The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan
by Katherine Julia
Summary: <html><head></head>The Circle of Cavan was taken down by Joe Solomon and Matt Morgan two years ago. Now what happens when the GGs are introduced to the BBs, who are now ex-Circle members? Gallagher is going to Blackthorne for an exchange, and sparks are flying. HIATUS.</html>
1. Prologue

**Summary: **Gallagher has another exchange, except this time they're going to Blackthorne, where they uncover some interesting secrets about one Mr. Zachary Goode.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gallagher Girls. Credit goes to Ally Carter.

**A/N: **This is the beginning to the exchange fic I told you guys about in my Author's Note in 'Back to Gallagher.' Enjoy

* * *

><p><strong>PROLOGUE<strong>

_Blackthorne Institute for Boys, the Tombs— 3 YEARS AGO_

* * *

><p>The large man's deep voice reverberated in the dank, empty cave.<p>

"Do you hereby accept the challenges and responsibility and choose of your own free will and decision to join the Circle of Cavan, forever binding you to the Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan?"

He looked down at the cowering boys in front of him, his cold gaze showing no mercy while he sized them up, trying to distinguish the useful from the useless.

The adolescent boys weren't told the truth— that is, the true nature of the Circle; only that great praise and glory would fall on them should they join its ranks. But trust wasn't an issue with the Circle of Cavan. The criminal organization was made up of double agents, triple agents, retired officers, young spies-to-be, and more. As far as anyone important was concerned, trust was just an idea, a myth if you will.

Only one of the eight boys knew what the Circle truly was. He stood proudly now, facing the big man in front of him.

He smirked; it was his signature—his mark.

From his robe, the large man drew a ceremonial dagger. The poor candlelight glinted off its polished surface in the dank cavern. Moving down the line, one by one, the boys recited the oath, binding themselves to the Circle, and held out their arm. One by one a deep gash was made, each boy's blood spilled on the cave floor where hundreds of others have made this very oath.

When his turn came the boy held out his arm and swore, "I hereby accept the challenges and responsibility and choose of my own free will and decision to join the Circle of Cavan, forever binding me to the Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan," his voice ringing with confidence, echoing.

The man smiled as he slit the dagger into the boy's arm. The pain was excruciating, but the boy felt nothing.

"Very well," said the man, his eyes resting on this last boy, glinting with interest. He spoke to the boy, singling him out. "Welcome to the Circle of Cavan… the Circle of your fathers."

Thirteen-year-old Zachary Goode smirked up at the man. _Let the Games begin._


	2. The Announcement at Blackthorne

**The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan**

**C**_h_A_**p**_t_E_**r**_ 1_

.~***~.

_Documentation taken from records file in CIA Headquarters in Langley:_

* * *

><p>CONFEDENTIAL - Level 8 Clearance Requisite<p>

Blackthorne Institute for Boys, Private Detention Facility [COVER]

Location:

Belfast, Maine (eighteen miles beyond town border line)

Security:

Blackthorne Institute for Boys is located in the mountains. On one side lays an open field, beyond that: a river, and beyond that: steep cliffs. It is nearly impenetrable from all but one side, from which it is only approachable through several security outposts (i.e. cameras, retinal scanners—identity checks—, armed guards, bomb-check, pat downs, and metal detectors— in that order). It takes approximately half an hour to make it from the first security checkpoint to the last security checkpoint (roughly one hundred feet in).

Blackthorne Institute is surrounded on all sides by barbed, chain-linked fences, and patrolled 24/7 by armed guards and search dogs. At night, searchlights sweep the grounds from security towers at each corner of the campus. All buildings (with the exception of the security towers) are square and low to the ground, with metal roofs and grated windows. Cameras are located across the entire campus, and are never shut off.

Night drills are supervised by attending officer.

Grounds:

Blackthorne Institute is equipped with it's own archery/shooting range, helicopter pad (sans helicopter), chemical laboratory, tombs (out of use), and weapons center.

* * *

><p>This information is CONFIDENTIAL to anyone below <strong>Level 8 Clearance!<strong>

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

_Blackthorne Institute for Boys, Private Detention Facility, Shooting Range_

_Friday_

The gun in Zach's hands let out a loud _CRACK_ as it was fired at the target.

"Bulls-eye, again? How do you do it? Every time, I swear!" Grant went on. Zach just smiled and lowered the sniper's gun from his shoulder.

"What can I say?" he said with a cheesy smile and wink. "I'm just that Goode."

"Psh! Get over yourself, Goode," Grant bumped his shoulder with his own on his way out of the shooting range. Behind the bigger boy's back, Zach massaged his shoulder with a grimace.

The two made their way to the cafeteria, two building blocks away. As they were walking Jonas ran up behind them. He had come from the Chem. Lab, on the other side of the Blackthorne campus.

"How was target practice?" Jonas asked. He pushed his glasses up farther up his nose (they had slid while he was running) and absently ran a hand through his thick black hair.

"Fine, same as always," Zach replied, kicking a stone out of his path.

"You should come with us sometime," Grant suggested for the twelve-hundredth time.

"Ha!" barked Jonas. "I'd kill someone."

"You're aim isn't _that_ bad!"

"Remember that time I hit Coach Keller in the stomach with the football?"

"Yeah! Dude, that was hilarious! He gets so red! "

"I was aiming for Zach. Who was standing on the other side of the field. Somehow, I threw the football backwards."

"Oh."

Zach nodded, his expression solemn. "It's true."

The three boys entered the noisy, communal cafeteria and went down the line, choosing from the slim pickings. Grant loaded up on candy bars and sweets, and Jonas looked at him in disgust. "If you throw up tonight I'm not cleaning it up. You're going to end up looking like Dr. Steve if you keep eating like that." Zach grabbed an apple and followed his friends to their table.

"Is it even healthy to look like Dr. Steve? I swear, that man jiggles where jiggle he should _not_." Grant grimaced, but took a huge bit out of his Snickers bar anyways. "Ugh."

The din in the cafeteria lulled and Zach turned around in his seat to see Dr. Steve standing at the podium at the front of the room. The short man cleared his throat and grinned broadly. "I have an exciting announcement to make, my boys!" he said. Still smiling. "I'm proud to announce that on Monday morning Blackthorne Institute will be welcoming guests, who will be staying with us for the entire year!"

Zach raised an eyebrow and turned back to his friends. "Who could possibly want to come _here_," he said, rolling his eyes. "At least with Spongebob Squarepants, over there," he gestured over his shoulder to Dr. Steve and took a bite of his apple.

"Monday morning, at ten o'clock, the wonderful ladies of Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women will be arriving!"

Zach choked on the apple. He bent over, hacking it up while Grant pounded on his back. No one else was paying him much mind though because they were all talking amongst themselves, chattering excitedly. Yes, assassins/thugs/trained male spies _chatter_. It comes with the territory.

"I know, aren't you all excited?" Dr. Steve shouted over the cacophony. Zach noted Joe Solomon, their Cove. Ops. teacher, leaning against the door rolling his eyes. Zach smirked. "Are their any questions?" Immediately voices rang out. "One at a time, please, one at a time!" Dr. Steve moved his arms in some strange flapping motion; something Zach thought vaguely resembled a calming motion.

Eli Wells asked the first question. "How many girls are coming?"

"The entire junior class will be coming. There will be ten girls coming."

"Why haven't we ever heard of them before?"

"Gallagher Academy is Blackthorne's sister school. It is just as classified, if not more so, than Blackthorne."

"So they're spies."

Dr. Steve smiled good-naturedly. "Yes, they are spies." The boys whispered among themselves.

"Will they be going to classes with us?"

"Naturally!"

"Where will they be staying?" Isaac James, a senior called with a smirk. Zach frowned. The smirk thing was his.

Dr. Steve chuckled. "They will be staying in the junior bunkers, with the other boys, of course!"

Zach eyebrows shot up, and his weren't the only ones. They were letting the girls stay with the hormonal teenage boys? "Is that even legal?" he muttered out loud. Grant looked beyond excited. His eyes were wide and he was practically jumping up and down in his eat. Actually, now that Zach though about it, he kind of looked like he was going to pee himself. "Hold it in there buddy."

The rest of the lunch period was spent discussing the girls (some of the conversations a little more…ahem, graphic, than others—particularly those of the junior class). The boys were sent off to class then, all of their minds on the coming week.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **

Okay, first off, yes, I'm bringing all my OC Blackthorne Boys back. Except this is their junior year, and it's a completely different story than 'Back to Gallagher' and 'The Way to Blackthorne.' Absolutely no connection there.

Second of all, I just want everyone to know right off the back that this is going to be a light and fluffy story. Let's just pretend the Circle of Cavan has been knocked out already, by Joe Solomon and Cam's dad, who died bringing it down. Solomon works at Blackthorne down, keeping the boys in check. The prologue (about Zach's initiation) was included though because it will end up being basically common knowledge that he and a couple of the other boys were involved in the group. They've kind of made a bad name for themselves, so Cammie's dad warns her off Zach.

Originally, the story wasn't just going to be romance, but I basically lost my muse for what the story would have been so I've done this instead. And I will warn you, there might be a little smut, but I'm not sure yet.

Also, just know, and this is going to sound horrible, but I'm not putting a lot of effort into this story. I wanted to do something easy for a change, and I thought why not just do a simple Gallagher Girls fic? I've already got a serious fic going on ('Counter Clockwise') and it's taking a lot of my energy up. This story, even the writing style really, is a look simpler than in some of my others stories. I'm just gonna go with the flow on this one, and take it one slow step at a time.

Oh, and one last thing: this story wasn't beta-ed ever. So I know it's not perfect.

_**New Summary: **_The Circle of Cavan was taken down by Joe Solomon and Matt Morgan two years ago. Now what happens when the Gallagher Girls are introduced to the Blackthorne Boys (now ex-Cavan members)? Gallagher is going to Blackthorne for an exchange, and sparks are flying.


	3. Headmistress Morgan's Announcement

**The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan**

**C**_h_A**_p_**t_E_**r**_ 2_

.~***~.

_File taken from the desk of Agent Rachel Morgan, Headmistress of The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, Roseville, VA:_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Student Assessment<span>** (Standard)

Completed by Mme. A. Dabney, September 2006:

Class of 2012

**Alverez, Eva** (i.e. Chica)

Comments:_ Languages and cultures are strong points. In the future, would be well suited for the International Operations Sector and/or the International Communications Office._

**Bauer, Courtney** (i.e. Bee)

Comments:_ Clever and sneaky. Very energetic. Has an affinity for 'planting false information' (i.e. lying). Convinced housemates she spent the summer before seventh grade traveling the world on the back of a baby turtle, surviving on clams._

**Baxter, Rebecca** (i.e. Dutchess)

Comments:_ Remarkable skill in P&E. Shows impressive aggression and force in one-on-one combat, but needs to work on anger management. _

**Boden, Jessica** (i.e. Calypso)

Comments:_ Enigma to peers—quiet, comes off as shy. Secret-keeper. Likely will go into Records Keeping at Langley. _

**Fetterman, Anna** (i.e. Chicken Little)

Comments: _Skittish disposition, and almost unbelievably clumsy, but shows surprising determination (and ability) when following instructions. Possibly candidate for either the Research & Development or Covert Operations tracks._

**Lee, Kim** (i.e. S. Holmes)

Comments:_Extraordinary at_ _deduction, with a talent for puzzle solving, in which she comes in second only to Ms. Sutton. _

**Morgan, Cameron Ann** (i.e. Chameleon)

Comments_: Shows great potential, particularly in field operation. Pavement artist._

**Morrison, Mick** (i.e. Hornet)

Comments:_ Close second to Ms. Baxter in combat. Good at imitation and voice tricks. Takes after her father (Col. Gregory Morrison, Third Division), and tends imitate him. _

**Sutton, Elizabeth** (i.e. Bookworm)

Comments:_ Incredibly bright, but not physically up to par with classmates, similar to Ms. Fetterman. Recommended for the Research & Development track._

**Walters, Tina** (i.e. Paparazzi)

Comments:_ Aptitude for intense interrogation and 'information gathering.' Takes after mother. __Makes a good team with Ms. Bauer, her counterpart. Ms. Bauer plants information where Ms. Walters retracts information._

...

Added to document by Headmistress R. Morgan, September 2009:

**McHenry, Macey** (i.e. Peacock)

Comments:_ Descendant of Gillian Gallagher (founder). Quickly progressing through the lower grades in order to catch up with her peers (Class of 2012). Kicked out of previous schools for behavior reasons, which have yet to become an issue here at Gallagher._

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

_The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, Great Hall_

_Sunday_

As the girls of Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women ate the last few bites of their crème brulee Sunday evening, Headmistress Rachel Morgan stood up and called for attention. Immediately, all conversation died as the girls stopped what they were saying (in Swedish) to listen. Rachel cleared her throat. "It is my _pleasure_ to announce that this year our junior class will _not_ spending the year at Gallagher." The girls' eyes widened and they whispered to each other (_"I knew it! She's sending us to Roseville for the semester!" "I bet they're sending them overseas to Russia, undercover to infiltrate the government and root out Nazi refugees!" "Obviously they're going to Norway. I heard the Norwegian government has been supplying Muslim extremists with illegal under-water technology NASA developed when they thought they had found water on Saturn."). _"Instead," Rachel continued, "they will be spending the year, as guests, at Gallagher's brother school— tomorrow morning the entire sophomore class will be leaving for Blackthorne Institute for Boys!"

The entire hall seemed to stop breathing before, all at once, in came to life in a flurry of shrieks and cries of surprise.

"Gallagher has a brother school?"

"Boys? They get to meet _boys_?"

"That's not fair! I want to go!"

Tina Walters leaned over Bex to speak to Cammie. "So Cam," she said. "How long have you known about this trip?"

"What? Tina, I knew nothing about it." Cammie rolled her eyes. It was just like Tina to assume Cammie was privy to her mother's actions as Headmistress. Not even close, in fact. Cammie's mother rarely told her what she was up to. It was a spy thing.

"Sure," Tina winked. "And where is this infamous—" Cammie's eyebrows scrunched together. Who said anything about infamous? Jeez, "—boy's school, _that you know _nothing_ about."_ Tina's face was eager, her body language screaming for answers. Cammie had to keep her annoyance at the girl in check. Tina took after her mother, a journalist for the Washington Post, and she was always poking her nose places.

"I told you, Tina: I don't know anything about Blackthorne!"

Tina sighed. "Sure, whatever you say, Cammie." She leaned back, rolling her eyes. When she thought Cammie wasn't looking, Tina sent Courtney Bauer a look that said _there Cammie goes lying again._ Cam' hands clenched under the table and she shared a look with Bex.

"Just ignore her, Cammie," Liz said supportively, her strong southern accent coming through. "She has no idea what she's talking about."

Cammie smiled. "Thanks, Liz."

"So Cam, _do_ you know anything about Blackthorne," Bex asked eagerly. Cammie hid a smile at her friend's enthusiasm (Bex was boy crazy, always asking Cammie who she thought was _'hawt'_).Cammie wasn't annoyed at Bex's questions like she was annoyed at Tina's. She guessed she just didn't appreciate being given the Third Degree because her mother was Headmistress. Contrary to popular believe, Cammie got no special benefits from the arrangement.

"I really don't have any information, guys," Cammie shrugged. "I didn't even know there _was_ a boy's school." Cammie looked up at the head table to her mother. She watched Rachel chat with Madame Dabney, wondering what other secrets her mother was keeping.

.~***~.

Dinner was dismissed and Cammie and her friends returned to their room to pack. "What do you think we'll need to bring with us?" Bex asked as she twirled around the room, holding three different dresses. "Do you think there will be any dances? Or maybe a ball?" Her British accent came through stronger when she was excited.

"Doubt it," Macey said. Cammie noted a dejected tone her friend was trying to cover up. She turned away from her suitcase to see Macey sitting on her bed staring at the wall blankly. Cammie frowned.

"Why aren't you packing, Macey?" she asked.

Macey frowned and sighed. "I'm not going," she said.

"What?" Bex exclaimed and immediately stopped what she was doing. "How can you not be coming? You have to come!"

Macey smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Your mom called me into her office this morning, Cammie," she said. "She told me about the exchange—" Cammie was surprised, to say the least, that Macey got this information before everyone else, "—and she told me I wouldn't be able to participate."

"Why not?" Wailed Liz, looking close to tears. Bex put a supportive arm around the waif-like girl. "How will we—we…_survive_ without you? I'll never know what the male species are trying to say to me without you there." Liz looked despaired.

"Stop being melodramatic, Liz," Cammie laughed, throwing a pillow at the other girl.

It made Macey smile for just a second, but then she sighed. "Your mom said I'm not at the right level to participate, yet. I'm still in class with the ninth graders—nowhere near where I need to be for junior year stuff. Unless I catch up in the next—" she glanced down at her watch, "—eleven hours, I can't go." Cammie opened her mouth, but Macey saw and cut her off. "Even you and Liz can't help me learn two years worth of training in eleven hours, Cam." Macey's tone was teasing and almost playful, but her eyes and the set of her mouth were bitter. "You'll just have to go without me."

"But it's for the entire year…"

"I know." Macey lay down and rolled over in her bed then, effectively stopping all discussion. The rest of the night was spent packing in disappointed silence.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Kind of a late update, especially for such a short chapter, but I was on vacation this weekend and just got back yesterday, which was also spent hanging out with my family because it was my sister's birthday. Anyways, sorry it's so short, and hope you liked it.

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! It means a lot to me. :)

**Next Chapter**: The Gallagher Girls arrive at Blackthorne, are introduced to the boys, adapt to the living…environment, and start classes.


	4. Introduction Woes

**The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan**

**C**_h_A_**p**_t_E_**r**_ 3_

.~***~.

_Excerpt of file taken from the desk of Dr. Steve Sanders, Director of Blackthorne Institute for Boys, Private Detention Facility, Belfast Maine:_

* * *

><p><span>Annual Student Physical &amp; Psychosomatic Evaluation<span> (Check-Up Form Version 1)

Completed by Nurse Elsa Ford, September 2009:

**Anderson, Jonas—_Virus_**

_Physical Description: _Caucasian. 6'1, thick black hair, glasses, blue eyes, lanky, fair skin

_ Ethnicity: _American

_ Physical/Health: _Glasses, Asthma

_ Psychosomatic (Mental/Emotional): _N/A (Nothing wrong)

_Notes:_ A little on the scrawny side, but keeps up with peers. Obsessed with computer.

**Church, Michael—_The Angel_ _Gabriel_**

_ Physical Description:_ Caucasian. 5'11, strawberry blonde curls, blue eyes, fair skin

_ Ethnicity: _Dutch-American

_ Physical/Health: _N/A

_ Psychosomatic: _Incredibly sensitive and emotional

_ Notes: _Perfectly healthy, but over-sympathizes emotionally.

**Evans, Logan—_Dagger_**

_Physical Description:_ Caucasian. 5'11 1/2, walnut-blonde hair, grey eyes, lean, muscled, fair skin

_Ethnicity:_ American

_Physical/Health: _N/A

_Psychosomatic:_ Extreme anger

_Notes:_ Needs to work on anger management. Explosive anger.

**Garcia, Mario—_El Toro_**

_ Physical Description:_ Hispanic. 5'5, black hair, black eyes, tan skin

_Ethnicity: _Hispanic.

_Physical/Health: _Unusually short. Needs milk

_Psychosomatic:_ N/A

_Notes:_ Should really drink some milk.

**Goode, Zachary—_Ghost_**

_Physical Description: _Caucasian. 5'11, dark brown hair, emerald eyes, lean, but built, fair skin

_Ethnicity: _American

_Physical/Health: _N/A

_Psychosomatic:_ Unknown

_Notes:_ Hides feelings very well. Perfect spy, not teenage boy.

**Hill, Tyler—_Cadet_**

_Physical Description: _Caucasian. 5'11, brown hair, brown eyes, fair skin

_Ethnicity:_ American

_Physical/Health: _N/A

_Psychosomatic:_ N/A

_Notes:_ Looks average, the kind of person one would easily forget. Pavement artist.

**Ivanovski, Dmitri—_Czar_**

_Physical Description: _Caucasian. 6'2, dark hair, violet eyes, lean, muscled, fair skin

_ Ethnicity:_ Russian

_Physical/Health: _Walks with slight limp (barely noticeable, concealable)

_Psychosomatic:_ Secretive, dark

_Notes:_ An enigma of sorts. None of the boys _really_ know him. Bad boy persona. Very attentive to people.

**Lee, Daniel—_Fugitive_**

_Physical Description:_ Asian. 5'9, black hair, blue eyes, fair skin

_ Ethnicity:_ Chinese-American

_Physical/Health: _N/A

_Psychosomatic:_ N/A

_Notes:_ Quiet, self-assured.

**Lewis, Austin—_Acrobat_**

_Physical Description: _Caucasian. 6'1, dark blonde hair, jade green eyes, lean, muscled, tan skin

_ Ethnicity:_ Australian

_Physical/Health: _N/A

_Psychosomatic: _Short temper

_Notes:_ Has a very short temper, but expresses it in the quiet, cold way (rather than Logan's explosive anger). Sardonic and slightly sadistic.

**Moore, Matthew—_Mole_**

_Physical Description: _Caucasian. 5'12, strawberry blonde, moss green eyes, fair skin

_ Ethnicity: _American

_Physical/Health: _N/A

_Psychosomatic: _Attentive

_ Notes: _Incredibly observant. Quiet in the reserved, shy way.

**Newman, Grant—_Bull Dog_**

_Physical Description:_ Caucasian. 5'11, dark golden-brown hair, bright brown eyes, broad, muscular, tan skin

_ Ethnicity:_ English- American, with Greek roots

_Physical/Health: _Very good.

_Psychosomatic:_ N/A

_ Notes:_ Girl obsessed. Very well built from working out a lot.

**Phelps, Justin—_Bearded Lady/ Beatle Juice_**

_Physical Description:_ Caucasian. 5'10, dark hair, dark blue eyes, fair skin

_Ethnicity:_ American.

_Physical/Health: _N/A

_Psychosomatic: _N/A

_Notes:_ Very funny.

**Reynolds, Christopher—_Napoleon_**

_Physical Description:_ Caucasian. 6', dirty-blonde hair, hazel eyes, fair skin

_ Ethnicity:_ French-American

_Physical/Health: _N/A

_Psychosomatic:_ N/A

_ Notes:_ Very sharp.

**Taylor, Nicholas—_Falcon_**

_ Physical Description:_ Caucasian. 5'10, brown hair, caramel eyes, fair skin

_ Ethnicity: _American

_Physical/Health: _Very good, body of a runner

_Psychosomatic:_ N/A

_ Notes:_ Very fast.

* * *

><p><em>File #2:<em>

* * *

><p>BB <strong>Senior<strong> Class Attendance List:

Campbell, Rex

Chambers, Jack

Collins, Shiloh

Gray, Xerxes

Hill, Scott

Ivanovski, Vasily

James, Isaac

King, Henry

Price, Ian

Quinton, Ashton

Reed, Jackson

Winter, Mordecai

Wood, Owen

Zane, Cameron

BB **Junior** Class Attendance List:

Anderson, Jonas

Church, Michael

Evans, Logan

Garcia, Mario

Goode, Zachary

Hill, Tyler

Ivanovski, Dmitri

Lee, Daniel

Lewis, Austin

Moore, Matthew

Newman, Grant

Phelps, Justin

Reynolds, Christopher

Taylor, Nicholas

BB **Sophomore** Class Attendance List:

Barnes, Liam

Brandon-Flynn, Kaleb

Elliot, Alexander

Fletcher, Donovan

Gray, Xavier

Hughes, Charles-Ross

James, Oliver

King, Teddy

Nelson, Kay

Peirce, Adam

Powell, Colby

Reginald III, William Lee

Washington, Toby

Wright, Noah

BB **Freshman** Class Attendance List:

Davis, Carter

Graves, Cyllus

Harris, Andrew

James, Halen Martin

Marcus, Phillip

Moore, Christian

Moses, Ashley

Nguyen, Forest

Nguyen, Rain

Nguyen, Sky

Page, Griffin

Wells, Eli

White, Thomas

Wyatt, Spencer

BB **Eigth Grade** Class Attendance List:

Armstrong-Ferrell, Gerald

Beaty, Jay

Bradford, Paul

Cobb, Daniel

Darcy, Magnus

Dickson, Dominic Jordon

Eskew, Armand

Gunn, Morgan

Heyne, Ali

Jones, Louis

Lung, Bao

Klein, Lewis Anthony

McClain, Samuel

Reed, Aaron

Turnbull, Andy

BB **Seventh Grade** Class Attendance List:

Alexander, Reuben

Bell, Brent

Diaz, Ronald Darrell

Earl II, Lawrence

Edwards, Ryan Eric

Goodell, Ray Sean

Hunt, Richard

McLaughlin, Andre

McBride, Frederick Lee

Phillips, Willie

Saunders, Jonathan Jacob

Trent, Patrick

Willingham, Gregory

Young, Charles

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

The Gallagher Girls were loaded onto a helicopter the next morning at 6 am. The flight was long and dreary, but finally the helicopter touched down on a landing pad somewhere in Maine. "Everyone up! Up!" Professor Buckingham, their chaperone, called briskly. "Time to go, girls!" She was walking down the aisle in between the seats, clapping her hands.

Cammie jerked awake when the older lady tapped her shoulder. She shot up out of her seat and cried out when her head came in contact with the overhead baggage compartment. "Ouch!" she yelled. "Holy crap! What are those things made out of? Titanium steel! Jeez!"

"Actually, yes," Buckingham said as she passed by, rousing the other girls. Cammie huffed and threw her bag over her shoulder.

"Jeez."

"Hey, Cam! Wait up!" Bex and Liz followed Cammie to the door of the helicopter, where the young (handsome, according o Bex: _"Ohhh! Cam! He is _cute_! I hope the Blackthorne Boys look like _him_!_) Pilot was helping girls out of the copter. Cammie, much to her chagrin, was stumbling all over the place from sitting for so long. She blushed when 'David' (according to his nametag, though you can never trust those) reached up a hand to steady her.

"Careful," he warned with a wink. "Don't want to fall.' Cammie squeaked at his deep voice flushed darker when he chuckled. She took the hand he offered and held it—Cammie noted how warm his hand was around hers—as she jumped down (not that she needed the help. She was a spy for Pete's sake). She mumbled her thanks and stumbled away when he turned to help the other girls.

Cammie went to stand by Bex, who was convulsing in laughter. She scowled and elbowed her darker friend in the ribs. Cammie hadn't missed how gracefully Bex had descended from the helicopter, smiling smoothly at David. But then behind her David let out a loud cry of pain and she head Liz apologizing profusely (_"Oopsie Daisy!"_) for crushing David's foot under her fifty pound book bag when she fell on top of him, and Cammie couldn't help but laugh with her sisters.

.~***~.

Cammie was watching the security guards as they ran last minute background checks on all the girls. The Gallagher Girls had ridden in a small black van (the words "BLACKTHORNE" printed boldly on the side) through three security outposts. The first had just been cameras, then the second had been an entire vehicle scan (with the girls inside), and then at the third armed guards had come out and hand checked the car for bombs.

Next, the girls were forced out of the van and made to walk to the next outpost, where they had been patted-down by _more_ armed guards and passed under metal detectors. And now (_finally_) they were at the final outpost, a small guardhouse filled with high-tech computers (Liz's eyes had widened comically).

Cammie watched for any sign of life inside the bodies of the security guards at the computers, but couldn't find any. It was like they had no emotions; their faces wiped clean of all expression. And they were all men, Cammie noted (Psh, sexist much?).

Bex elbowed Cammie. "Stop staring!" she hissed.

"How can you not?" Cammie whispered back. "They're like robots."

"SHH!" Cammie and Bex jumped guiltily when Professor Buckingham shushed them. She looked up and her eyes widened. _Everyone_ was looking at them. That meant _everyone _had heard them. Including the robot-like guards. She met the eyes of one of the younger guards, who raised an eyebrow mockingly. _So they aren't automatons!_ Cammie blushed and spent the rest of their time in the guardhouse carefully examining her shoes.

.~***~.

"Welcome, Welcome, Welcome girls!" Dr. Steve practically sang as he flounced down the hall towards them. He held out his hand in greeting. "_I_ am Dr. Steve Sanders! It is _such_ a pleasure!"

Professor Buckingham raised an eyebrow at his exuberance and peered down her sculpted nose at the short man. She held out a hand (Cammie thought she looked slightly disdainful), and Dr. Steve kissed it with a loud _SMOOCH_. "Er," Buckingham's nose scrunched a little. "The pleasure is ours, Dr. Sanders."

"Please, call me Dr. Steve."

"I—"

"Dr. Steve. I _insist_!"

"Very well." Buckingham agreed reluctantly. It was very clear to her students that she disapproved.

"Hello, girls!" Dr. Steve said, now turning to the snickering young ladies. "It is such an _honor_!" The girls all murmured "thank you"s and returned the sentiments. "So polite!" exclaimed Dr. Steve in admiration. Cammie decided she liked Dr. Steve, in all his boyish glee. He turned around and started back up the hall to a set of tall, oak doors. "Come on, girls," he chirped over his shoulder. "Time to meet the boys!"

Cammie's blood went cold. Uh-oh—the boys. She'd forgotten about _them_.

.~***~.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Mick Morrison was saying somewhere behind Cammie.

"Do you think I'm overdressed," worried Tina, smoothing her pink skirt down for the four _hundredth_ time.

"Oh god! _Oh god!_"

"What if they hate us? What if they think we're ugly?" Anna was chattering, unaware she was making Courtney Bauer particularly anxious (not that Courtney was ugly. She was in fact very pretty).

"I can't do this! I can't to this!"

"I want to go home!"

"How many boys did you say there were again?" Jessica Boden was wringing her hands nervously.

"Are you sure they're _all_ boys?" Eva asked.

"Of course they're all boys! What kind of question is that?" Kim Lee said frowning.

"Really, Eva," Tina rolled her eyes. "But really—is this skirt too short?"

"I'm so nervous!"

"I think my lunch just came back up!"

"Do I have anything in my teeth?"

"What if they're all brand 5 ugly?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Yelled Professor Buckingham (Cammie really heard that the boys on the other side of the door hadn't heard Buckingham's shriek, but by the general dim in voices over there she had a bad feeling they had). Buckingham straightened up haughtily. "Remember what you are!" she scolded. "Now what—no, who—are you?"

"Spies?"

"Girls?"

"_Ugly?"_ Courtney moaned, with tears in her eyes.

Buckingham rolled her eyes. "You're Gallagher Girls!" (_Ohhhhh…_) "Now when Dr. Steve announces you, you are going to waltz in there, get up on that stage, and introduce yourselves! _Like ladies!_"

Silence. "…There's a _stage_?" Anna squeaked.

Courtney burst into tears, Mick gagged and Tina moaned, and it started all over again. Buckingham dropped her head into her hands,

.~***~.

Zach sat with Grant and Jonas in a cafeteria of anxious (and slightly randy) teenage boys. Every few seconds his eyes would wander to the large oak doors until he realized what he was doing and snapped his attention back to Dr. Steve, who was standing at the podium making announcements. What Dr. Steve said next caught Zach's attention. "And without further ado," Dr. Steve made a sweeping ark with his arm in the direction of the doors. 'I give you our guests from Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women!"

"Finally," Zach mumbled, as the doors slowly cracked open. He could feel Grant bouncing up and down in his seat to his right. The entire room was silent as the boys waited with baited breath and wide eyes. And then doors opened all the way and—BAM—there were girls! The boys erupted in cheers as the girls gracefully made their way to Dr. Steve on the stage. Zach couldn't help but admire the gentle sway of their hips as they passed by.

"WOOHOOO!" Grant was shouting next to him. Zach laughed at his friend, but never took his eyes off the girls as they climbed up onto the stage as well, and arranged themselves in a line.

Now that he was over the initial shock of seeing actually _girls_ (real, live, human ones) Zach started cataloguing their appearances (instinct, really). He noticed that every couple of seconds the stocky redhead gulped, like she was pushing something down her throat, and the light brunette with the dangerous looking blue eyes kept pushing down her pink skirt. He noticed the blonde; brown eyed girls smile getting bigger with every boy that whistled her way, and he noticed the gorgeous black girl winking and waving at several boys, while eyeing Grant inconspicuously.

Behind the girls strode in a tall, genteel looking woman, who must have been in her late-eighties. Zach assumed it was their chaperone. She was the first to approach the microphone as the noise slowly died down. She smiled (Zach was reminded of his deceased grandmother) and then announced, in a very regal voice in Zach's opinion, "Good evening, Gentlemen. My name is Professor Patricia Buckingham." Zach was surprised to hear a strong British Accent come through. She looked at everyone in the room over her half-moon spectacles. "I am proud to present the junior class of Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, come all the way to you from Roseville, Virginia!" The boys clapped respectfully, though many of them hadn't listened to a word the old woman had said, preferring to eye the girls behind her.

"Now," Buckingham turned slightly to address the girls. "When I call your name step up and introduce yourself."

"Psstt," Bex whispered to Cammie. "What _exactly_ do we have to say?" she asked, confused. Cammie shrugged.

"No idea," she whispered back.

"Eva Alverez," Buckingham called.

Eva squeaked and her eyes widened. Shakily, she stepped forwards. "Um, I'm Eva. I'm a junior, and my code name is Chica." The boys applauded loudly, whispering to each other. Eva glanced at Buckingham for permission to step back, who nodded in consent.

"Courtney Bauer!"

"Hi, I'm Courtney. I'm a junior, and my code name is Bee." Courtney smiled (now very confident, thanks to the positive attention from the boys) and stepped back.

"Rebecca Baxter!"

Bex stepped forward in a very…_Bex_ way. She smiled a million-dollar smile and the boys whooped. "Hello," the boys noted her accent in appreciation. "I'm Bex, and if you ever call me Rebecca you'll wake up in the morning without your nuts." The boy s stopped smiling right away and their eyes widened.

"Ms. Baxter!" Buckingham scolded.

Bex just shrugged and smiled again. "Oh, and my code name is _Duchess_." Then she skipped back to her place in the line of girls.

Buckingham sighed and wearily called out the next girl. "Jessica Boden!"

Jessica didn't smile and her eyes didn't twinkle. She just quietly announced herself, her eyes wandering the room in a calculating sort of way. "My name is Jessica and my code name is Calypso." Zach raised an eyebrow, but clapped politely along with the other boys. _Calypso… interesting_. Zach frowned, because knew Calypso meant secret-keeper, and he was wondering just what secrets the girl was keeping.

"Anna Fetterman!"

Anna stumbled forward and blushed when she got a few wolf-whistles. Cammie glanced at Dr. Steve, who was also smiling merrily. She suspected wolf-whistles were something she was going to have to get used to, even though Madame Dabney would never have tolerated them.

"Hi, I'm A-anna. I'm a junior and my codename is," her voice had gradually gotten softer until she practiacally whispered, "Chicken Little."

"More like Foxy Loxy!" someone shouted. The boys outright laughed while poor Anna blushed profusely. She suddenly found her shoes extremely interesting.

Buckingham frowned, but cleared her throat and plowed on. "Kim Lee!"

"Good evening. My name is Kim, and my codename is S. Holmes." Kim said simply and stepped back.

And then it was Cammie's turn, and she knew it. She was mentally preparing herself when Buckingham called her name. "Cameron Ann Morgan!"

And then the entire hall went dead silent. All of a sudden the boys went still, and even Dr. Steve wasn't smiling. They all stared at the line. Cammie knew they were looking for whichever girl she was.

_Morgan?_ Zach thought. _As in Matthew Morgan?_ Zach was paying much more attention now, his eyes trained on the stage. Beside him, he knew Grant and Jonas had the same idea. In fact, he suspected everyone in the hall was thinking the same thing, based on their reaction to her name.

But where was she? Zach was shifting through the line with his eyes, but he had no idea which one she was—and there weren't even that many!

"Where is Ms. Morgan?" asked Buckingham. Cammie was almost paralyzed. Bex elbowed her, but her eyes were wide and worried. "Cam, go up," she whispered, reluctantly urging her on.

Shakily, Cammie stepped up to the microphone. Some of the boys gasped, like they hadn't seen her at all, even though she had been standing on a stage right in front of them the entire time. And then everyone was staring _right at her_.

_Why are they all quiet? What the heck is this?_ Cammie thought. "Um, h-hi," she forced herself to say while her eyes darted around for a friendly face. But everyone was either completely stone-faced or completely slack-jawed. None of the boys clapped or whistled, or even jeered like they had for the other girls. Cammie glanced at Buckingham, but the older woman was completely expressionless, as well.

Cammie cleared her throat. "My name is Cammie, Cammie Morgan." The silence seemed to get heavier. Cammie looked at Bex and Liz, who were staring at her looking just as confused and nervous. "I'm a junior…and my codename is Chameleon." And just like that, like a flick of a switch, the sound was turned back on. There were gasps and exclamations as all the boys turned to each other with meaningful looks and quiet whispers. No one clapped. Cammie's eyes met a green-eyed boy's as he just sat there watching her.

_I knew it_ Zach thought. _Matt Morgan's daughter. _Zach thought it was very interesting they would let her come to _Blackthorne_, considering she was _His_ daughter. Only His daughter would be that good. She was just like Him, and her codename only confirmed it. _Chameleon_.

When her eyes met his he tensed slightly. Her eyes were almost talking to him—Zach thought of how silly that sounded. But he couldn't help but think that for a pavement artist, her eyes were very readable. He could tell she was confused, alarmed, embarrassed. _Does she really not _know_?_

"Ms. Morgan," Buckingham said softly. Cammie jerked like she had just been woken from a daydream and hastily stepped back. Zach noticed she seemed to melt right into the wall.

"Cam?" Bex whispered. But Cammie just shook her head and focused all her attention on a chipped piece of linoleum, trying to keep her tears at bay. Buckingham cleared her throat and announced the other girls one-by-one, and the boys reacted just as they had before Cammie had taken the stage.

Cammie couldn't listen. All she could do was stand in tortured silence, wondering what the hell she had done wrong.

**A/N **

Btw, this is taking place in their** junior year, which is 2010-2011**. So, the "Evaluation Form" at the beginning of this chapter is from September (the beginning of) their sophomore year, and the form from the previous chapter (about the Gallagher Girls) was done in September of their 7th grade year (Gallagher starts at 7th grade and goes to 12th grade, and I'm assuming Blackthorne does, too).

I'll be going more into detail about the **boys' personalities** in this than in 'Back to Gallagher.' They're **the same characters, just with a few minor tweaks**. Otherwise, they're going to be pretty much like they were before.

Oh, and **let's just assume they all have buzz cuts**, pretty much. Nothing long. **And they all have built bodies**. Because they're spies who have been physically trained since they were 12 years old.

Okay, about the boy's '**attendance lists**.' That was just a way for me to make up all the Blackthorne Boys. That's the entire school right there—and yes, the boys with last names ARE brothers. (Vasily and Dmitri Ivanovski; Rain, Forest and Sky Nguyen [triplets]; Isaac, Oliver, and Halen Martin James; Henry and Teddy King; Xerxes and Xavier Gray; Jackson and Aaron Reed; etc.) Lol, and Cyllus Graves is named after my English teacher's baby boy, fyi. Let me tell you, though, I was completely out of creative juice after naming all the boys. I came up with ALL the names for seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshman right off the top of my head. Then, when I got to the 7th and 8th graders, I gave up and used a name generator because I was so beat. That's why this update came so late.

Finally: **I am taking suggestions for this story** now, because I really have no plot plan, except for the next couple chapters.

Can I just vent about how much I have FanFiction right now? I spent SO MUCH time formatting my Word Document for this chapter, and then when I uploaded it it was ALL GONE! URGH!#$#$#$%#Not to mention that when I went back to redo it, it turns out that I can't!

**Next Chapter:** The girls meet the boys personally, they get…acquainted with the sleeping arrangement, and classes start, where Cammie see's Joe Solomon for the first time in two years.

Oh, and a big **thank you to everyone who reviewed**! It means a lot to me!

P.S. I really abused the **italics**.

Here's a quick description guide I jotted down when I was writing this chapter. It's for the girls, and just about as basic as they come (also, sorry, the formatting got botched whenI uploaded it):

dark hair and eyes, tan Alverez, Eva (i.e. Chica)

Blonde, brown eyes, fair Bauer, Courtney (i.e. Bee)

Black skin, hair and hazel eyes Baxter, Rebecca (i.e. Dutchess)

Light brown hair, purple eyes Boden, Jessica (i.e. Calypso)

brown hair, wide eyes Fetterman, Anna (i.e. Chicken Little)

asian, green eyes, black hair Lee, Kim (i.e. S. Holmes)

light brown/blonde hair, changes, Morgan, Cameron Ann (i.e. Chameleon)

eyes switch from blue to green, fair, PLAIN

Red hair, brown eyes, stocky, fair Morrison, Mick (i.e. Hornet)

Blonde, waifish, blue eyes Sutton, Elizabeth (i.e. Bookworm)

brown hair, dangerous blue eyes, round face Walters, Tina (i.e. Paparazzi)


	5. A Bad Case of the Bunker Bites

****A/N** I just wanted to quickly apologize for the schedules. The formatting got butchered again when I uploaded because FanFiction sucks at formatting, and when I changed it and then hit save all the spacing I put in got deleted so it ended up this way again. Sorry, I hope it isn't too confusing. Sorry!**

* * *

><p><strong>The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan<strong>

**C**_h_A_**p**_t_E_**r**_ 4_

.~***~.

* * *

><p>Blackthorne Institute for Boys<p>

Cameron A. Morgan

Student ID

GG107

Block Term Course Teacher Room

1 YR Advanced Russian III S. Sanders 101

2 SM1 Chemical Warfare 01 A. Ivanovski Lab 2

2 SM2 Metal Shop 01 G. Arnett Lab 4

**Lunch**

3 YR Covert Operations III J. Solomon -103

Ass. B. Travers

4 SM1 Islamic Religion Study C. Hamilton 115

4 SM2 CIA, the History of T. Glass 106

5 YR Physical Activity K. Olson Gym

* * *

><p>Blackthorne Institute for Boys<p>

Zachary Goode

Student ID

BB305

Block Term Course Teacher Room

1 YR Norwegian Dialects II R. Rose 113

2 SM1 Chemical Warfare 01 A. Ivanovski Lab 2

2 SM2 Gun Making for Beginners S. Sanders Lab 5

**Lunch**

3 YR Covert Operations III J. Solomon -103

Ass. B. Travers

4 SM2 Psychology of Soviet A. Everell 104

Society

4 SM1 CIA, the History of T. Glass 106

5 YR Physical Activity K. Olsen Gym

* * *

><p>Blackthorne Institute for Boys<p>

Rebecca Baxter

Student ID

GG103

Block Term Course Teacher Room

1 YR Accents of the World IV C. Hamilton 115

2 SM1 Chemical Warfare 01 A. Ivanovski Lab 2

2 SM2 Bombs 101 E. Hailey Lab 2

**Lunch**

3 YR Covert Operations III J. Solomon -103

Ass. B. Travers

4 SM1 Advanced Cultures of S. Sanders 101

the World

4 SM2 CIA, the History of T. Glass 106

5 YR Physical Activity K. Olsen Gym

* * *

><p>Blackthorne Institute for Boys<p>

Elizabeth Sutton

Student ID

GG109

Block Term Course Teacher Room

1 YR Advanced Quantum G. Walsh Lab 1

Physics I

2 YR Advanced Chemistry G. Walsh Lab 1

III

2 YR Mechanics I E. Hailey Lab 3

**Lunch**

3 YR Calculus II G. Walsh Lab 1

4 SM1 Advanced Cultures of S. Sanders 101

the World

4 SM2 Inside NASA C. Hamilton 115

5 YR Physical Activity K. Olsen Gym

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

"Well done girls," Dr. Steve leaned in and whispered with a wink. "Excellent job!" He shuffled sideways past the girls to the podium.

"Many thank yous, Professor Buckingham—and ladies_, _of course! For such wonderful introductions!" He chuckled and pat his large stomach. "Take a bow, girls!" Awkwardly, with looks shot between them, the girls gave small curtsies, at which the boys hooted.

"Settle down, gentlemen!" Dr. Steve said with a wink. "There's plenty of time for that later!" Cammie was worried about what exactly Dr. Steve meant by that. "Now if you girls would please," he scuffled down off the stage, "come with me…down here…" The boys' eyes followed the girls as they obediently trailed behind the bumbling man through the tables of hormone-infested males.

The tables were arranged, looking at them from the podium and microphone (which was in front of the teacher's table), in three rows. Each row had two long tables. Cammie guessed, judging by the appearances of the boys, that each table was for a different grade level. The seventh, eight and freshman tables were closest to the podium, being the first table in each row accordingly. Following that logic, Cammie assumed behind the seventh graders were the sophomores, behind the eighth graders were the juniors and behind the freshmen were the seniors. Dr. Steve led them to the isle in between the eighth grade and junior tables (Cammie could have lifted her hand from her side and touched the boys on either side of her) and indicated the latter. "This is the table designated to our juniors where you will eat you meals." Dr. Steve's cheeks were slightly flushed and his eyes twinkled. "But more importantly, these are the boys you will be sharing your lives with for the next year." Talk about pressure, eh? The green-eyed boy Cammie had been looking at earlier was sitting at the table, she noticed, blushing slightly. She subtly refused to make eye contact again, even though she knew he was trying to.

There were fifteen or so boys at each table, but another table had been added onto the end of the junior table to make room for the girls. The boys had spread out by all sitting on one side of the table, down the entire length, though, so Cammie knew there was no way of avoiding them tonight by hiding at one end of the table, behind her sisters. The boys must have planned it so they would all have a girl to talk to. "Have a seat, ladies!" Dr. Steve insisted, eyes bright. He waved a hand at the half-empty table.

Cammie glanced over her shoulder at Bex, (she was standing at the front of the line the girls had been forced to assemble in order to fit through the isles without tripping over large, booted feet) who shrugged. "Er—Yes, sir." Cammie mumbled. She colored slightly from embarrassment when her voice came out a little higher under than usual. Once again, she noticed all the boys were looking at her (she made a mental note to make Bex stand at the front next time).

Cammie sat down across from the mildest, quietest looking boy she could find, and Bex and Jessica took the seats on either side of her (Liz sat on Bex's other side). The rest of the girls spread out along the table; giggling and squealing flirtatiously (Cammie wondered how that was even possible. Pigs squeal, but is it attractive on them? No! This was one of those times Cammie really missed Macey).

Cammie smiled shyly at the boy across from her, and he smiled back just as shyly. "Hi," he said quietly. "I'm Tyler."

"Cammie," she said.

"I know." Then he ducked his head and stuck a fry in his mouth. Cammie sighed in relief. _Well Tyler_, she thought, _I think you're my favorite new friend. If you don't talk to me, I won't talk to you. Then maybe we'll both make it through tonight._

Quickly, all the girls but Cammie relaxed and fell into conversation with the boys. Bex was talking to the large Adonis sitting across from her, batting her eyelashes frequently. His skin was goldened to a crisp, and his dark blonde-brown hair was bleached from the sun. "How much did you say you lift, Grant?" Grant puffed up and grinned.

Cammie tried not to look, but one of the boys sitting next to Grant was the green-eyed boy from before. Up close his eyes were even more vivid, his hair was a extremely dark brown, like rich chocolate, and his fair skin was completely smooth and clean of blemishes. Cammie thought he was extremely handsome. Go figure, huh?

The green-eyed boy (Zach, she thought someone called him) was laughing at Liz and his curly-black haired friend, who seemed to be getting along exceptionally. The two were hunched over the table, their food forgotten, with a metal device in between them. They each held tweezers and were poking away at it, talking quietly between them. She watched as he laughed, his teeth sparkling. She huffed. Who said spies were allowed to be good-looking? 'Good-looking spies' should be an oxymoron, and a dangerous one at that. Someone should write somewhere that all spy babies have to be ugly. How are you supposed to sneak when everyone is looking at you because you're so darned beautiful? _Gorgeous people suck._

Cammie was so wrapped up in watching the boy that she almost didn't notice when he looked up at her. She jumped in her seat when she realized he had caught her staring. He smirked slowly. "See something you like?" he mouthed. Cammie's eyes widened and she flushed. She quickly spun away and refused to look back, but she could hear him laughing from her seat. Cammie resigned herself to picking at her burger and fries for most of the meal.

Bex tried to include her in the conversation she was having with the Adonis ("Hey Cam, what was the name of that wrestling move you showed me?" "Did you know Grant can bench twice my weight in potatoes, Cammie?" "Hey, I think Liz and Jonas could use some help on their machine, Cam."), but every time Cammie would open her mouth to join in the entire table would fall silent and stare. So she'd snap her mouth shut and pretend her plate was the most fascinating thing in the world. She would never admit it, but the rejection was really hurting Cammie's feelings. The boys had no qualms with her sisters, so what made her different? She was starting to wish she was home with Macey.

"Just ignore them, Cam," Bex whispered. "Show them you aren't afraid of them." Bex squeezed her hand underneath the table and sent her a small smile. But it wasn't that simple—Bex didn't understand. Bex was a girl—a beautiful girl— who loved attention and had spent her whole life making sure she got it. But Cammie wasn't like that; Cammie was a pavement artist. She'd spent her whole life _not_ being seen. Only now she wasn't just being seen…she was being _watched, _and _looked for_ and _noticed_ and all the worst things a pavement artist—a spy, really—can be. How was she supposed to deal with that? When you've been invisible to everyone your entire life sometimes you forget how to react to the idea that you're a solid, visible mass to everyone around you, and that you can't always just blend into the wall.

"So, Cammie, what do you do for fun?" Cammie's head shot up. Tyler was chewing on a piece of carrot, wearing a silly half-smile. "Personally," he said, "I like to take long walks on the beach, watch the sunset," his voice lowered to an intimate level, "cuddle by the fire." He winked, and that's when she got that he was joking. He grinned. "What can I say? I'm a hopeless, romantic fool." Cammie got over her surprise—what happened to the quiet, shy boy? Ugh, boys are so confusing—and smiled back.

Her eyes sparkled with humor, and Tyler thought she was extremely pretty without her face glued to her plate. "Me? Oh, I like to destroy villages, set fire to crops, and steal candy from defenseless children—you know, the usual," she said with a shrug and a snort. Tyler blinked and then laughed loudly.

"Sounds exciting. You'll have to take me with you one day," he said when he had stopped laughing.

She laughed. "Good, we'll make it a date! We can pillage the villages we burn and use the valuables we find to pay for dinner at the Marriott."

"Pick me up at eight." He said in an imitation-suave voice. He grinned (Cammie noticed he had an adorable smile, but in an almost-a-man-but-still-cutely-boyish way, with a line of stubble running along his jaw), and Cammie felt a little bit more welcomed.

"Cammie!" Cammie looked at Bex, who had elbowed her in the ribs. Bex was grinning like a maniac and bouncing in her seat. Her eyes were shifting all over the place and Cammie thought she either had a bad twitch or she was trying to tell her something via retina.

"Ow! Bex!" Cammie rubbed her ribs. "What was that for?"

Bex cleared her throat. "Who's this, Cammie?" Bex said like she was talking to a child, with extreme emphasis on the 'friend' part.

Cammie gave her a look that said '_What drug are you on and when are you getting off it?'_ "This is Tyler. Tyler, this is Bex, one of my best friends."

Tyler smiled charmingly, "Hey."

'Hello," Bex said and reached over to shake his hand. "Pleasure to meet you. And that's Liz," Bex pointed over her shoulder. Liz raised her blonde head at the sound of her name, and waved to Tyler.

"Hello," she said.

"Nice to meet you." Cammie figured Tyler was the type of guy who was silly, and polite when you brought him home to meet your parents, who played Wii with your little brother as long as the kid wanted and who opened the car door for you every single time—almost the best-friend type. Basically an all around nice guy (Macey had gone over the different 'types' their last light at Gallagher, just in case). Not to mention he was extremely easy to talk to, and pretty easy on the eyes, if she did say so herself.

"Hey Tyler, can you pass the ketchup, please?" Cammie's head snapped to the Zach, and was surprised when he was looking directly at her, not Tyler. Cammie blushed, but didn't break eye contact. Zach smiled. Not smirked, smiled.

"Sure man," Tyler said. He handed the bottle to Grant who held it out for Zach to take, but the dark-haired boy made no move for it. He was still looking at Cammie. Neither of them noticed the glances Bex and Grant sent each other, or Tyler's raised brow.

"Zach?" Grant tapped Zach's arm with the ketchup and Zach's head snapped to Grant. Cammie blinked when Zach broke eye contact.

"Thanks man," Zach mumbled, and turned back to his dinner, his expression carefully blank.

When she made to turn back to Tyler, Cammie spotted at least three buzzed heads swivel away from them, at their table alone. Cammie rolled her eyes. Eavesdroppers.

Tyler was looking at her with small smirk. "What?" she asked with a suspicious frown.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That! The thing with Zach."

"What thing with Zach? There's no thing with Zach."

"Oh come on, Cammie, I'm not dumb. I saw the looks you two were giving each other."

"Oh, and what looks were those?"

"The looks that said 'I want to rip your clothes off and fornicate right now with you on this table.'"

Cammie's eyes widened and her jaw slackened. "I-what-I-_no_! There were no looks!"

"There most certainly were looks, Cameron Ann Morgan!"

"There were _not_!" Cammie said frantically.

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Oh please!"

"Tyler!" she said.

"Fornicator!"

"_Tyler!_"

"Cammie!" he mimicked.

"Ugh! _Boys!"_ Cammie viciously speared a veggie with her fork and Tyler laughed. "There were no looks," she mumbled. Luckily for Cammie, she was so distracted that she was blissfully unaware that the entire table was listening keenly. And no one missed that Zach's cheeks were suspiciously tinged with pink, though his expression remained stoic.

Jessica soon joined Tyler and Cammie's conversation, albeit quietly. Occasionally she would ask a question or give a comment, but otherwise she mostly listened.

"Okay, so you know Grant and Zach are there, and then on Zach's other side is Jonas. Those three usually run together. Next to Jonas is Nick, and next to Nick is Chris. Then there's Mario—the short, dark guy—and next to him is Justin and Michael. Michael's the blonde one." Tyler was pointing out and naming all the guys at the table, per Cammie's request. "Alright, on the end over here is Dmitri, and he's next to Logan and Austin. Logan has grey eyes and Austin has green. Watch out for them," he said, lowering his voice. "Nasty tempers. Yikes! Okay and that's Daniel, the Asian one—" Daniel inclined his head in acknowledgment. Tyler clapped the boy sitting next to him on the shoulder. "And lastly, this is Matt."

Cammie blinked and swallowed hard. _Matt?_ Matt smiled hello and Cammie forced herself to smile tightly back. Tyler noticed and quickly changed the subject. Cammie stayed quiet while Tyler and Jessica tried to distract her.

Zach frowned. There was no doubt about it, then. She was His daughter for sure.

Zach had been openly watching their conversation for a few minutes now, once he had realized, about ten minutes in, that she was refusing to look at him, probably because of what Tyler had said earlier. That suited Zach just fine. He could look all he liked and not have to pretend he wasn't interested when he clearly was.

As Zach studied her he noticed certain things, things like she smiled with her teeth, she bit her lip, and she rested her head in her hands when she was deep in thought. Zach found the more he watched her the more he wanted to know her story.

Dinner was coming to a close when suddenly, the microphone screeched to life. Cammie grimaced at the terrible sound. She looked up at the podium to see Dr. Steve fumbling with the thing.

He cleared his throat and smiled. "I'd just like to make a few last minute announcements, before you are dismissed for bed. First of all, curfew is ten o'clock, no later, ladies and gentlemen." He fixed them with s stern look, but broke into a smile immediately after, ruining any affect it might have had. "Next, for the ladies, classes start tomorrow morning. Your schedules will be passed out at breakfast. And finally, you ladies may be wondering where you'll be sleeping for the next year." He chuckled and that was when Cammie got a little worried. She exchanged apprehensive glances with Bex. "You will be sleeping with the boys in the junior bunker! Isn't that exciting?"

Silence.

"What fun! Well, goodnight, ladies and gentlemen!" Dr. Steve said, chuckling. He stepped down from the podium and left the cafeteria, humming a tune to himself. The other teachers got up and left as well, Professor Buckingham following. Only the Blackthorne Boys were left in the canteen with the shell-shocked girls.

"We're sleeping with…the boys?" Courtney asked in a horrified voice turning to stare at her sisters. Eva squeaked.

"We—but we can't! We're girls!" Tina wailed.

"Well, spotted," said Bex sarcastically. Grant snickered, which he covered up with a cough when Tina sent him a death glare.

"How are we going to do our make-up in the morning—" "Make-up?" someone muttered. "—and—and our _hair_? How are we going to get _dressed_?" Eva rattled of hysterically. Mick was wide-eyed and silent.

"Wait! Are we supposed to shower with them too? I can't share a bathroom with boys!" Kim gasped, and Anna squeaked, looking faint.

"Cammie!" Liz whispered desperately. Cammie leaned over to look at the blonde waif. "They can't do this, can they? It isn't right!" Everyone turned to stare at Cammie. Of course. Sigh. She grimaced.

"I don't think there's anything we can do, Liz…"

"But it's entirely unethical!" she insisted.

"I know, Liz, and I totally agree, but I don't know what we can do. We can talk to Dr. Steve, but other than that—"

"Cammie!" Mick exclaimed suddenly. "Ask your mom to help us!"

Cammie's eyes widened. "What?"

"Yeah Cam! Ask your mom to get Dr. Steve to change his mind!" Tina agreed excitedly.

The boys looked extremely confused, so Bex said, "Cammie's mom is Headmistress at Gallagher." Their eyes widened and they nodded in understanding.

Cammie started shaking her head. "No, no, no! Guys, I don't think—"

"What? You don't think what?" Tina's voice and eyes were hard. "Jeez Cammie, it's the least you could do!"

Cammie's expression turned annoyed. "You know I don't have any pull with her Tina!"

"Oh please!" Tina scoffed. "We all know that's a load of crap, Cammie!"

"I don't!" Cammie insisted furiously.

"She doesn't Tina, just let it go!" Bex said angrily, and Liz nodded frantically.

Tine rolled her eyes. "Right, and all those times you've been in trouble you've just _coincidentally_ been let off without any punishment! None of us are _that_ naïve, Cammie!"

Cammie stood up abruptly, her fists clenched. Her eyes narrowed heatedly when Tina stood up just as quickly.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down girls!" Tyler said hastily, also standing. He grabbed Cammie's arm to hold her back, but she just shook it off and crossed her arms instead.

"I don't know how many times I'm going to have to say it before it gets through your _thick_ head, Tina, but my mom doesn't tell me everything, and I have no control over what she does or doesn't do!"

"She's your _mom!_ Of course she'll listen to you before she listens to any of us!" Tina spat. "Why is it so hard for you to just try? All you have to do is convince her to get us our own room! Or is that to much for the great _Cammie Morgan_?" Tina's eyes narrowed spitefully.

"You're seriously disillusioned! You know my mom puts Gallagher before me!"

"Yeah right! She's always pulling strings for you!" The other girls and boys watched in horror as the argument started turning into something beyond sleeping arrangements.

"Who do you think you are? I don't go running back to my mom for everything, Tina!"

"Who do I think _I _am?" Tina laughed mirthlessly. "Who do you think _you _are Cameron Morgan? You think you can just get away with anything because you have your mom to back you up! But when it comes to doing something for the rest of us," she circled her arm in indication of the girls, "instead of just for _yourself_ you back out!"

"Whoa!" Bex stood up too and made a move towards Tina, but Grant rapidly lunged over the table and grabbed hold of her.

Cammie rage took on a whole new level. "Let me make something extremely clear to you, _Tina_," Cammie stepped forward dangerously and Tina's hard look faltered. "My mom has always punished me when I deserved it! She has always supported Gallagher over me, and she _never_ pulls strings for me. I'm as much a Gallagher Girl as the rest of you, on _every single level_! I don't understand why you can't just accept the truth when I've been telling it to you for years!"

Tina made no reply. Cammie let out an angry breath.

"My mother isn't someone I fall back on whenever I need a favor. Dr. Steve chose these sleeping arrangement because he thought they were… for the best," Cammie grimaced, "so we're just going to have to suck it up and deal with them. Just because we don't like them doesn't mean we need to complain and hide behind my mom. Gallagher Girls aren't whiny wusses, they fight their own battles. So don't you dare call me ungrateful or selfish!" Cammie finished.

Tina glared at Cammie. She turned around and sat down again, her nose held high in the air. Cammie snorted and sat down as well.

"Er…how about we just… show you to the bunker, now." Tyler said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

.~***~.

"Well this is…cozy," said Bex tightly. The bunker was basically a small trailer with a low ceiling and lots of beds. The beds were built with the headboards against the walls on both sides of the room, with a narrow isle in between. They had all been pushed closer together to make room for ten more beds at the end, so there was only about a foot and a half in between them. At the foot of each bed there was a trunk, presumably containing the boys' belongings. In between all the beds there was a small table with a reading lamp and a drawer.

Grant laughed embarrassedly. "Er, yeah. It's not a lot."

"No, it's great," Bex said encouragingly.

"Where's the bathroom?" Mick asked.

"Around the corner," Chris answered. "They're communal with the seniors. Their bunker is next door. Sophomores and freshmen are about two blocks over, and eighth and seventh are on the other side of campus."

"Are there certain times we aren't supposed to use them? You know, designated times." Eva asked.

"Nah, they're pretty much open 24/7. We all just come and go as we please," Mario said shrugging. Eva's eyes widened.

"She meant she doesn't want anyone walking in on her showering, dumb ass," Austin said with a roll of his eyes, kicking the foot of the bed Mario was sitting on. Mario swatted him away with the back of his hand. "Don't worry, the showering stalls are separate from the toilets, and completely private. There's no way any peeping toms would see you." Eva nodded in relief.

"So which beds are ours?" Bex asked, peering down the isle.

"Pretty much any of the ones down at the end." Zach said. "If there's an unlocked trunk at the end of the bed it's all yours."

"Are those trunks all we get for storage?" Courtney asked worriedly.

"What more could you possibly need?" asked Justin in disbelief. Psh, boys.

Courtney looked like she had taken offense to that. "I always pack for any situation," she said harshly. "I like to be prepared." Justin raised his hands in defeat, and sat back on his bed.

"I call the bed closest to the window!" Kim said, starting down the isle.

"No way, that one's mine!" Tina called.

"Too bad, I got here first!" Kim replied haughtily throwing her bag onto the mattress.

"Ugh," Tina shouldered her way past the boys and stalked down the bunker to an available bed. Cammie and Bex rolled their eyes simultaneously and followed after, with Liz at their heels. The boys exchanged amused looks behind their backs.

Cammie ended up in one of the two beds that were next to the boys' beds, because Bex had insisted on it, since she was taking the other one. The bed next to Cammie turned out to be Tyler's (Cammie couldn't believe her luck) and Liz was on Cammie's other side. Grant was across from Tyler (next to Bex), and next to him was Zach (Cammie tried not to stare). Jonas was next to Zach.

Cammie unpacked her clothes as quickly as she could, taking great care that none of the boys saw any panties or bras. Luckily for her, all of her stuff easily fit into the trunk, with the exception of her books, which she piled underneath her bed. She made sure her trunk was locked and secured (with her diary safely inside) before she turned to look at the pajamas lying on her bed. How the heck was she supposed to get changed in a room full of boys? "Er..."

Tyler looked up and saw her dilemma. He laughed and pointed to a door at the front of the bunker (through the boy's beds, ugh). "Bathroom," he said. At her questioning glance he said, "There's only a sink and mirror in there. No toilet or shower. Mostly we use it as a changing room. Or, we will now. Didn't really have to before." He shrugged.

"Thanks," she said, picking up her clothes. He smiled at her and returned to his book. She noticed he was already in his pjs, and with a quick scan of the room she noted all the boys were. Talk about silent and deadly, eh? Cammie tried not to blush when she realized Zach slept in his boxers. _Only_ his –look at those abs! Dang, does he work—no! Bathroom! Right! She made her way quickly to the bathroom, ignoring the stares she got on the way.

As quickly as she could she shrugged out of her clothes and into her Dad's old maroon sweatshirt ('MORGAN' printed on the back in cracked white print) and black sweats. She slipped on a pair of oversized socks.

"Cammie, hurry up!" Cammie nearly jumped out of her skin at the pounding on the door. With a hand on her racing heart she swung the door open. Bex was standing in front of her, examining her nails and pretending she didn't notice Grant staring at her butt. She grinned when she saw the door open. "Great, thanks Cam," she said, pushing her way in. Cammie laughed at her friend and picked up her clothes off the floor.

She laughed with a shake of her head and bent over to grab her dirty clothes off the ground. When she stood up and turned around she froze.

Everyone in the bunker (sans Tyler) was staring at her again. Jeez. Her eyes widened slightly and she fought to keep her expression carefully blank. She smiled uncomfortably. Then she noticed she was the only girl left in the bunker. "Where did they—"

"Bathroom," called Tyler from his bed without looking up from his book. Cammie nodded and took a deep breath.

Awkwardly she walked back to her bed, forcing herself not to freak out. She could feel their eyes on her back as she passed by. They really weren't subtle, were they? Jeez.

Fourteen boys staring at one girl alone in a bunker = creepy.

Cammie lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Quickly, her eyes started to drift shut from pure exhaustion, but she forced herself to stay awake because, well, she didn't exactly trust the boys not to try something while she was the only one in here with them. What was taking Bex so long, anyways?

"Hey Cam," Tyler asked quietly. She turned on her side to look at him and rested her head on her hand.

"Yeah?" she whispered. She realized the other boys were probably listening as well even though most of them appeared to be sleeping or talking quietly to each other. A few of the boys had their lamps switched on, bathing the bunker in a soft yellow glow. The peaceful quiet was making it incredibly hard for Cammie to stay awake.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. His brow was furrowed.

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What happened with Tina…are you okay?"

Cammie looked down at her arm for a long time before she answered. "That stuff with Tina… it's been building up for years, you know? And it was about more than the bunker." Cammie frowned. "I doubt all the tensions resolved now anyways. Tina and I have never, and probably will never, like each other much." She smiled sheepishly. "I'm just sorry we were so rude. We shouldn't have exploded at each other, especially on our first night, and in front of the entire school. Talk about embarrassing, huh?"

Tyler smiled and lay down on his side, facing her. "Nah," he brushed it off. "Stuff like that happens here all the time, anyways. A lot of us have terrible tempers." He grinned mischievously. "If anything, it was super hot. And it earned you a fair bit of respect."

Cammie laughed cruelly. "Yeah, right. They hate me!"

Tyler frowned. "No they don't Cammie. It's complicated, but I swear they don't hate you."

"Then why do they stare at me like I'm gum on the bottom of their shoes? You're the only one who's been remotely nice to me. What did I do to make them reject me?" Her voice was stained with desperate frustration.

"It isn't like that Cammie. They… it isn't my secret to tell," he sighed. "But I promise you, it isn't your fault." His expression was fierce as he defended his brothers.

She sighed. She wasn't nearly satisfied, but she smiled at Tyler anyways. "Thanks, Tyler."

He met her gaze and held it intensely with his own. "Anytime." Then his gaze softened. "Go to sleep Cammie. You look like shit," he laughed quietly.

She reached over and hit him, but he grabbed he hand and gave it a squeeze. "Night," he said gently. Then he released her hand and turned over.

"Goodnight, Tyler," she whispered back. Cammie rolled over and finally succumbed to sleep.

.~***~.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

I hope you guys liked this chapter. Longest chapter EVER!

I also hope you like **Tyler**. Just remember, this is feinitely a Zammie story. **Zammie forever**! I just thought Cammie needed **a friend**, and if you remember from the boy's descriptions, **Tyler is a pavement artist** like her, so he understands her more than the other boys. There's **nothing romantic** on either of their sides. In fact, I'm thinking I'm going to **make him a closeted gay**, just to mix it up a little.

And I just wanted to remind some people that, like I said at the beginning in the first chapter or so I think, **this story isn't a priority of mine**. I have another one that takes precedence over this one. I **almost gave this one up** and one point, and I **don't even have much of a plan** for where the story will go. So please **don't expect constant updates**, and please, _please_, **don't **_**tell**_** me to update** because you want to know what happens next. I don't mind people _asking_ for updates, but when someone comes right out and says 'I think you should update because I want to know what happens next. I want you to update now," (no joke, this happened) it's really **off putting to me as an author**. It makes me not want to update at all, really. Oh, and FYI, everyone wants to know what happens next. It's a common affliction I hear.

I will admit to you all though**, I'm liking writing this story a lot**. The other one is a lot more serious. It's like that one is work and this one is a hobby, so I keep coming back to this one. And **I'm finding it a lot easier to write longer chapters** now, too. So I'm thinking maybe the other one will be on **temporary hiatus in favor of this one**, since it's **good practice** and I think, with a little work, I could have it done by the **end of July**. I'm **moving again** around then and my new school starts in August (so I get a shorter summer, ugh) so I'm thinking the more serious fic ('Counter Clockwise') might be a **'during the school year' thing.**

I hope you all liked the **schedules**; I had a lot of fun doing them. I'm thinking a teacher profile document at the beginning of the next chapter? Tell me what you think

I hate feeling like I kept saying 'girls', 'boys' and 'Dr. Steve' in this chapter, But I mean, what other words can I use?

**Next Chapter:** Teacher profiles, night drills (eek!), the girls get adjusted to getting ready in the morning in a dorm filled with boys, the guards that came with the girls from Gallagher are introduced at breakfast, and schedules are passed out. Classes start too, I think. I keep saying they'll start next chapter but then the chapters end up super long and I haven't gotten to that part yet. Yikes.

**Preview: **

"Pst!" Something small hit the back of Cammie's head. "_Pst!"_ Cammie turned around and fixed the boy leaning across the isle talk to her with a glare. She put a hand to her hair and her face morphed in bewildered disgust.

"Did you just throw _egg_ at my head?"

He laughed. "Hey baby," the boy said with a wink. His eyes raked Cammie body and she suddenly felt dirty. "My name's—"

"Going to end up on a gravestone if you don't turn around and mind your own business," said and angry voice.

"Julien!"

**IMPORTANT:** What would you guys say to **Madame Dabney** making a surprise visit sometime in the story? Just an idea I had. And do you guys think **Cam's dad** should be **dead or alive**? **Major decision** I can't make. Help me!

And don't forget, I'm taking suggestions for this story.

I love writing authors notes.

Love,

Katie

P.S. Yes, I'm starting the sign off thing again. I actually missed it a lot.


	6. Night Drills from Hell

**The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan**

**C**_h_A_**p**_t_E_**r**_ 5_

* * *

><p><em>Information accumulated from various documents found in CIA official records (CLASSIFIED), Langley,Virginia, and Blackthorne Institute files (CLASSIFIED), Belfast, Maine.<em>

* * *

><p>Blackthorne Institute—Teacher Profiles<p>

**Arnett, Gregory** (CIA-retired)

Age: 48

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, American

Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys

Profession: Metal Shop and Wood Shop instructor

**Everell,** **Arnold **(MI6-retired)

Age: 55

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, German-English

Education: Unknown

Profession: Psychology of Soviet Society instructor

**Ford, Elsa** (MI6-retired)

Age: 56

Sex: F

Ethnicity: Caucasian, Irish

Education: Unknown

Profession: Nurse

**Glass, Timothy** (CIA-active)

Age: 32

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, American

Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys

Profession: CIA, the History of instructor

**Hailey,** **Eugene **(MI6-active)

Age: 24

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, British

Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys

Profession: Mechanics instructor

**Hamilton,** **Christopher **(MI6-retired)

Age: 36

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, Welsh

Education: Unknown

Profession: Inside NASA (A Spy's Eye), Islamic Religion Study, Accents of the World instructor

**Ivanovski, Aleksei **

Age: 20

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, Russian

Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys

Profession: Chemical Warfare instructor

**Olsen, Keller** (CIA-retired)

Age: 54

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, American

Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys

Profession: Physical Activity instructor

**Rose,** **Ronald **(MI6-retired)

Age: 86

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, English

Education: Unknown

Profession: Norwegian Dialects instructor

**Sanders, Steven **(CIA-unknown)

Age: 35

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, American

Education: Unknown

Profession: Director and instructor.

**Solomon, Joseph **(CIA-retired)

Age: 42

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, American

Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys

Profession: Covert Operations instructor

**Travers, Beau**

Age: 19

Sex: M

Ethnicity: African, American

Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys

Profession: Covert Operations assistant instructor and Night Drill Sergeant

**Walsh,** **Gabriel **(MI6-active)

Age: 22

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, Scottish

Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys

Profession: Quantum Physics, Chemistry, Calculus instructor

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

_**RINGGGGGG! RINGGGGG! RINNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!**_

Cammie shot up in bed. All around her lights were flashing red and boys were running around, pulling on sweatshirts. The ringing that had woken her sounded just like the bells that go off in a fire department when there's a fire. Cammie shoved her hands over her ears. "What's going on?" She shouted, fighting to make herself heard over the cacophony.

Tyler was scrambling to pull on a sweatshirt over his pajamas. He looked up in surprise at her and the other confused girls. "Shit!" he swore, remembering them. He turned and threw his pillow at one of the other boys—Justin, if Cammie remembered correctly—who's eyes widened when Tyler gestured to the girls. "What do we do?" Tyler yelled.

"They can't stay here! They have to come with us!" Justin shouted back. He tapped the blonde boy on the back of the head (he was sitting on his bed, bent over and tying the shoe laces on his sneakers). "Michael, they need jackets!" Michael looked up at the girls in confusion and then his eyes widened. He nodded quickly and the two boys dashed to the closet and pulled out an armful of_ ungodly_ yellow windbreakers. Cammie noticed the other boys shrugging them on over their pajamas.

"What is going on?" Cammie yelled again, shooting up from her bed. The boys were running around the bunker, only adding to the din.

"Night drills," Justin screamed at her over the storm of red flashing lights, high-pitched wails and stampeding boys. He threw a jacket her way, then moved to help Michael carry the rest.

"Night drills?" Cammie hollered, snatching the jacket smoothly from the air. "What the heck are night drills? She didn't get an answer.

All around her boys were gearing up to leave, so Cammie quickly threw on the jacket and pulled on the sneakers she had worn at dinner. The jacket felt bulky over Cammie's dad's sweatshirt, but fit all right, although it was clearly designed for a boy. She threw her hair back messily in an elastic.

Tyler finished tying his sneakers and starting going down the line of girls beds. "Girls, you need to get up!" he bellowed, throwing covers off of beds. "Get dressed!" Cammie, Justin and Michael followed behind him, passing out the yellow jackets and shaking drowsy girls.

"We're going outside? In the middle of the night?" Courtney groaned incredulously, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "But it's freezing!"

"Put on running shoes and the jackets!" Tyler told them.

"_Running_? I'm sorry, did you say _running_?" Tina screeched, pulling her bed sheets up to her chin.

Tyler narrowed his eyes. "Yes—now get _up!_" He shoved her out of her bed and she fell with an undignified _oomph_! "Come on! You have about 30 seconds! Hurry up!"

Cammie's felt like her ears were going numb from the constant ringing, and she had to squint to see Tyler clearly through the flashing lights.

"We can't change in front of boys!" Eva yelled at Tyler, looking affronted.

Tyler scoffed. "Trust me, no one is paying any attention to what color bra you're wearing!" Eva sent a death glare at Tyler's back and pulled sweatpants on over her tiny shorts. "_Hurry,_" he said again.

"We're going as fast as we can!" Mick shrieked with a scowl. She frantically dug around in her trunk for her sneakers.

"That's not fast _enough_!"

Most of the other boys had already left the bunker in a big blob of highlighter yellow. "You guys go," Tyler barked at Justin and Michael. "Tell Travers we'll be right there!"

"Are you sure?" Michael asked. Justin was already out the door. Tyler nodded and Michael quickly ran after his friend.

Cammie noticed Grant and Zach hanging back. Zach was pulling on Grant's arm to go but he was looking right at Cammie. She thanked the merciful god in heaven for the sporadic lighting keeping anyone from seeing her blush.

"Need any help?" Grant shouted, shaking off Zach's grip on his arm. Grant was probably talking to Bex, but Cammie wasn't sure.

"Just go," Tyler shouted back without looking at the other two boys. He was holding Jessica's jacket open as she slipped it on. "We're almost done anyways!" Grant did as he was told, following after Justin and Michael, but Zach stayed, his eyes narrowed and glinting. He strode forward and started forcibly zipping up jackets and throwing shoes at girls with bare feet. "I told you to go!" Tyler yelled at him.

"No, I'm helping!" Zach yelled back, his voice hard like steel. Tyler rolled his eyes, but a smirk lit his face when he caught Zach glancing at Cammie_ again_.

The girls finished pulling on clothing and shoes in a record twenty-two seconds, and they stumbled out of the bunker and onto the paved street. The night was dark and cold, and the air crisp and sharp on Cammie's face. She could see her breaths in the air in front of her. As the door shut behind Mick, the ringing finally shut off, and Cammie sighed in relief.

The only sounds were the footsteps of two boys and ten girls taking off down the road through a maze of small, metal buildings. "Where are we going?" Cammie panted.

"To the—" Tyler started, but Zach abruptly cut him off.

"To the training field." Zach said as he sent Tyler a triumphant smirk. Tyler rolled his eyes and sent Cammie a look that said _'What an ass_.' Zach's smirk dropped when he saw the look and glanced back in time to see Cammie giggle breathlessly. Zach scowled and sped up.

A beam of light passed over them for the second time (the first was right as they left the bunker), illuminating everything within a ten-foot radius, before moving on. Cammie counted the seconds before it swept over them again (nine and a half). "What is that?" she asked.

"Search light," Tyler answered breathlessly.

"This way," Zach said, changing the subject. "It's just around the corner."

They turned around one of the slightly taller buildings and Cammie's eyes widened. Apparently the 'training field' meant the vast empty piece of land serving as part of Blackthorne's perimeter. At the very far end of the field, separating it from the river and cliff was a talk chain-link fence, barbwire running along the top.

"_This_ is the training field?" Kim asked.

"What were you expecting?" Zach asked with raised eyebrows.

"Er…well, not this. Maybe something a little more…grassy." Tall grasses and shrubs were scattered in little patches, littering the field, but the rest was dirt. Cammie could see remnants of a baseball diamond in the dirt, and in the middle of the field a bunch of equipment had been pushed together to make an endurance course of some sort.

Zach smirked. "Our cover is a _detention _facility, not a sports club, Princess." Cammie watched in disgust as Kim practically swooned when he called her Princess. Repulsive.

Zach caught Cammie's eye and winked slyly. She abruptly looked at Tyler. "What is it we're doing here, Tyler?" she asked sweetly, placing a hand lightly on his arm. She sent a glance filled with poison at Zach, whose eyes narrowed dangerously.

Tyler pointed to the playground of equipment. "You'll see them in a second." Just as he said it, the spotlight swept over the deserted field and lit up a long line of boys standing at the end of the endurance course, facing away from the campus. There were about thirty of them, and Cammie recognized some of them as juniors from the bunker. She figured the others must be seniors, since they looked too old to be sophomores. Cammie noted all the boys were standing stiffly at attention.

"Come on," Zach said, gesturing for them to follow him. He led them at a steady jog to the assembly. Even though they were easily heard approaching, none of the figures looked behind them to see the smaller group come closer.

The line of boys was completely silent, which Cammie found a little strange. Just then a deep voice called out "Campbell, Rex?"

"Here." Replied an equally deep voice. Cammie couldn't see over the shoulders of the boys because they were all so tall, but she figured someone was going down the line taking attendance.

"Chambers, Jack?"

"Here, sir!"

Zach and Tyler quickly stepped into the line between Mario and Dmitri, where there had been a space just big enough for the two of them. Cammie and the other girls exchanged glances bemusedly. Was there some sort of order they were supposed to stand in?

"Hill, Scott?"

"Present."

"Ivanovski, Vasily?"

"Here." The attendance-taker was rapidly moving down the line of boys, and the girls were still standing around like idiots, wondering what the heck they were supposed to do.

"Pst!" Cammie whispered desperately at the impassive boys in front of her. Tyler looked back at her and mouthed _'Alphabetical order_'. Oh…_duh_. She and the girls quickly arranged themselves in alphabetical order and added themselves onto the end of the line.

"Goode, Zachary?"

"Here."

"Hill, Tyler?"

"Here."

"Thank you for joining us boys," the disembodied voice said sarcastically. Cammie leaned forward to try and get a better look at what was going on just in time to see Zach and Tyler share identical grimaces. Cammie moved her gaze to the dark man in front of them, making marks on a clipboard.

The man was tall, Cammie would say about six foot two, and he had gorgeous skin the color of rich, dark chocolate. His head was shaven, but the curly hair coming back in was almost as dark as his eyes, which shone black in the pale moonlight. His face had an angular, striking set to it—almost erotic. He couldn't have been older than twenty.

The first thing she thought about Attendance Man was he was a _very_ handsome man—almost too handsome. The second thing she thought was the armed guards on either side of him was incredibly scary, and just as attractive as he was (darn them!).And the third thing she thought was she should step back because his penetrating stare was trained on her.

Attendance Man snapped his clipboard under his arm in a smooth motion and came to stand directly in front of Cammie, his face expressionless. "Nice of you to join us girls," he drawled unpleasantly, with narrowed eyes. Cammie was surprised at how deep a baritone his voice was. Even though he was addressing the Gallagher Girls as a whole, the dark man's vicious stare was stuck on Cammie. His sharp, wicked eyes swept over her entire body, scrutinizing her in a way that made her feel _naked_.

"I understand that you didn't know about the Night Drills, so I'm going to let this one slide." Attendance Man leered deviously, flashing pearly whites. The way he spoke, and the dip of his gaze to her chest, made Cammie cringe. Obviously, his train of thought way slightly more…_wayward_ than hers.

"…But if you're ever late again I'll hang upside down by your toes in my office for a week." Cammie flinched at his ominous warning, and her eyes widened in fear of the sinister man. He watched her reaction with gleeful pleasure, as if he was getting off on it. Next to Cammie, Kim trembled. Attendance Man practically purred in despicable delight, his back arching like a cat in a strange way that looked entirely too natural for him. Um, ew, much?

Attendance Man spun and walked back to Zach and Tyler again, but not before sending Cammie one more menacing sneer. Only when Attendance Man had started roll again ("Ivanovski, Dmitri?" "Here." "Lee, Daniel?" "Present, Sir."), did Cammie release the breath she had been holding. _What the hell is wrong with everyone here?_ She thought angrily. _First I'm an outcast—a social anomaly. Now I'm being sexually harassed! This is getting really old and I'm sick and tired of it! _Cammie felt like punching somebody. She also felt like shriveling up in a hole and dying. Next to her, Mick grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly, but Cammie wasn't sure if it was to comfort her or to hold her back from murder, and consequentially federal prison. Cammie took a deep breath to calm her down as much as she could.

Cammie looked up then and Zach caught her eye. He was looking at her with his brow furrowed and his eyes unreadable. He looked…worried and slightly disturbed. Maybe 35% worried, 35% disgusted and 30% angry. Cammie really hoped he wasn't directing those at her. What were the chances he was actually feeling those things for his pervert Night Drills instructor out of loyalty, and not the outcast, freaky, new girl? Oh, right. That'd be zero.

Attendance Man—_When are we going to get a name to put to your creepy face?_ Cammie thought—had finished the attendance for the boys and was starting on the girls. "Alverez, Eva?"

"Here," Eva squeaked.

"Bauer, Courtney?"

"H-here."

"Baxter, Rebecca?"

"Here, you mother fu—!" Courtney snapped a hand over Bex's mouth faster than Bex could say 'Bloody Queen of England!" Attendance Man sneered and moved on to Jessica, and Cammie didn't think it was very wise of him to turn his back on Bex like that. _Never_ turn your back on Bex. Cammie had learned that the hard way. Courtney had to hold Bex back from jumping the guy, not that Cammie blamed Bex. _Maybe Bex and I can commit homicide together, and spend the rest of our lives in the same jail cell, scratching tic-tac-toe on the walls with our fingernails!_ Cammie thought with enthusiasm.

"Lee, Kim?" Attendance Man was right in front of her again. Cammie tried not to wear her heart on her sleeve, but when all you can think is '_Ew, ew, ew! Get the slimy slugball away!',_ it's kind of hard.

"Morgan, Cameron?" Yuck, was that a purr?

"Here," Cammie replied stiffly. She looked straight ahead, but she still saw the glances Attendance Man was shooting at her out of the corner of his dark eyes. Well, didn't she just have the worst of luck? At least if he had been interested in Courtney or Bex they might have flirted back with him. But Cammie was…well, Cammie. She wasn't _frigid_ (not after Josh! Ha!) but she wasn't going to respond to this older, creepy, spy instructor's advances. He was sick! Even if he was one of the most gorgeous men Cammie had ever seen. You would think that for such a good-looking fellow he'd be able to come by a few more women without resorting to pedophile methods. But, then again, he lived on a strictly boy-only campus 24/7. A man needs what a man needs. (Cammie personally thought that was cow crap. A man can wait, or a man ain't gonna get nothing at all!)

Absently, Cammie wondered if all the Blackthorne Boys ended up as beautiful as him. Zach was pretty dang handsome, wasn't he? And Grant, and Tyler, too, and even Jonas in his own way. Cammie eyed the armed guards walking slowly behind Attendance Man. They were fine specimens, themselves, and a glimpse at some of the _all male_ staff (ahem) at dinner had told her classes would _not_ be boring. Especially not if she sat with Bex.

"Walters, Tina?" Attendance Man finished at last.

"Here." Cammie had to blink multiple times because she could have sworn Tina was batting her eyelashes and giggling and _twirling her hair_ around her finger! …Nope—she was still doing it! The Gallagher Girls watched is disbelief and disgust as their sister completely betrayed Cammie and their sisterhood, openly flirting with the teacher, in front of the boys no less, and had the gall to send Cammie a triumphant smirk. _Holy crap!_ Did Tina not understand this man was probably a registered, hunted sex offender! It's not like he was trying to be subtle. Sure he was good-looking, but Cammie had never thought Tina was _that_ shallow. How could she have missed the way he had practically raped Cammie with his eyes? Judging by everyone's uncomfortable and slightly harassed expressions when he was finishing roll, _everyone_ could tell. I mean, they weren't spies for nothing. Cammie felt like taking Tina by the shoulders and shaking her, yelling '_You don't flirt with eye rapists, Tina! Or any rapists, for that matter!' _Was Tina really that petty to be using this as a way to get back at her? Well, Tina could have him for all Cammie cared! If Cammie didn't think he was dangerous she might even encourage it! Oh, and if he wasn't a teacher. Yeah, definitely that too.

But then the strangest thing happened. Attendance Man looked Tina up and down with a look of disapproval (and was that a hint of disgust?) and then rolled his eyes and turned away. Tina's jaw literally dropped (along with all the Gallagher Girls and half the Blackthorne Boys) and she sent Cammie one of the meanest, dirtiest, angriest looks Cammie had ever been on the receiving end of (and she had gotten a lot of those in her life time). She looked ready to strangle her!

Cammie wasn't sure whether or not she should be happy Attendance Man had snubbed Tina or not. On one hand, Tina was safe, and even though they didn't get along very well, they were still sisters, and Cammie cared about her as much as she cared about Kim or Mick or Bex or Liz. But then again, that just meant Attendance Man was probably going to come back on to Cammie. Not to mention that, for some reason, he was stuck on her, kind of like the way the boys were. He singled her out and treated her differently, but not in a good way. And it was _all_ directed at her, her, her, her—oh! And only her. Did she mention her?

Sucks.

"Okay, everyone!" Attendance Man said, moving to stand in front of everyone again. "My name is—" _Finally!_ Cammie thought. _A name to give if my underwear goes missing._"—Beau Travers, for you Ladies who don't know." He sent them what he probably thought was a pretty suave wink (Cammie would never admit it, but even though he was a creep, he was one hell of a hunky creep and his wink was about as suave as they come. James Bond, anyone?). "I'm the Night Drill sergeant," Beau rumbled deeply, his eyes lingering on certain areas of certain females' (who shall remain unnamed) bodies. "Basically I'm here to tell you what to do." He flashed his pearly whites, which were almost luminescent in the moonlight.

"Um, e-excuse me?" Anna stuttered, raising her hand slightly. Beau raised an eyebrow at her and nodded his consent to ask. "What exactly are Night Drills?"

"Excellent question! "Night Drills are exactly what they sound like. They're drills made to test endurance and skill—"

"Are we going to be _graded_?" Liz squeaked in disbelief. She couldn't be graded on a _physical_ level! She would fail!

Beau sent her a severe look for interrupting, and Liz flushed. "Yes, Ms. Sutton, you will be graded, however your Drill grades don't interfere with your class grades. At the end of the year they are evaluated and you are given a separate final grade." Liz's shoulders sagged in relief.

"A few times a month the alarms will go off, like they did tonight in your bunkers, for you to come meet me here at this field. You have three minutes to be dressed—Yes, Ms. Bauer, _wearing_ the yellow jackets—and lined up at attention for roll. It you aren't here within three minutes of the alarm…well, let's just say you _really _want to be here." Beaus eyes glinted as he scanned the girls' faces. "The alarms go off completely randomly, so one month you could have Night Drills once every week, and one month you could have them every night for a single week. Seniors and juniors always have Drills together."

Cammie was surprised at Beau's attitude She wouldn't it was all _that_ different from what she had seen during roll, but from the reverence and respect in his voice, he obviously loved his job. He was focused and professional, and there was no hint of anything sexual in the way he spoke to the girls now. In Cammie's eyes, it made him very admirable, in a way. While, yes, he wasn't the nicest of people, he didn't let personal matters get in the way of what he did. For a spy, that was essential. Because personal matters slow you down, and sometimes, they get you killed.

Not that Cammie trusted him now, though. Not by a long shot. Spies can never be trusted.

Cammie frowned. Now that she thought about it, for a spy he was very expressive of what he was thinking. It was strange for a spy. Spies should be able to control their outwards feelings fairly well. For him to be so obvious was extremely abnormal.

Cammie's eyes widened. Could it all have been an act? She wouldn't put it past her mother, or Dr. Steve or Professor Buckingham for that matter, to set up some kind of test. After all, they'd been known to do it before (The Josh Incident, ahem). Maybe they told Beau to freak the Gallagher Girls out! But…would her mom really tell him to sexually harass he daughter? _No..no she wouldn't_, Cammie thought with conviction. _She wouldn't…but Dr. Steve might!_

"Now I want fifty laps up and down the field!" Beau suddenly shouted, startling the girls. "On my whistle!" he instructed, and not a second later the shrill sound of his whistle pierced the air.

.~***~.

Cammie was panting when she finally jogged to a slow stop. She bent over and put her hands on her knees, taking a moment to slow her breathing.

Fifty laps, it turned out, was a lot longer than it looked.

Five laps into the run, the females present had realized that, while boys are sore losers in general, spy boys are _really_, really sore losers. After the fourth boy shoved her off the track in an attempt to gain the lead, Cammie had had enough. She didn't know if they had superiority complexes or just incredibly poor vision, but she and Bex decided it was time to kick some bad boy butt! (Liz had dropped out after the first mile and a half, collapsing on the side of the track. Cammie made sure to keep an eye on Beau and his distance from her fairy-friend. Luckily for him, a respectable distance was maintained.)

Cammie and Bex ran hard and fast, quickly passing twenty-eight surprised boys. But the boys wouldn't have it. They sped up and it became a mad dash to the finish line with Cammie and Bex in first. With only a lap left to go, Grant yanked Bex out of her place, and Zach moved to fill it. But Cammie wasn't going to let _him_ win! Ha, as if! So she ignored the throbbing pain in the limbs and her lungs, and pushed herself forward. And then all of a sudden, before Cammie could even comprehend, Zach was behind her and she had finished first!

Cammie collapsed in the grass, spread eagle. Her chest was heaving and sweat was rolling down her face and arms, but she could care less. All she wanted was to go to sleep for a thousand years. _Maybe I'll even wake up to a handsome prince charming_, she mused. _One with thick, dark hair, and emerald colored eyes. With nimble hands and lean muscles. And a deep voice that makes me w—_

"Cammie?" Cammie shot up from the ground like a bolt. Was that a male voice she heard? Did her ears deceive her? Was someone talking to _her_?

Her eyes widened and she blushed when she looked up at the boy who had spoken to her. It was Zach, and he was standing very close. Very close.

"Yes?" she asked breathlessly.

"Good job," he said. Cammie's surprise was written clearly on her face, making Zach grin. "That was impressive running. You and Bex are the only girls who made it all fifty laps. Here," he reached down a hand and she only hesitated a moment before she put her hand in his and let him pull her up (she tried to ignore the way his muscles clenched).

With her standing, the two spies were even closer, making both of them blush. Their chests were pressed together lightly, and if she had wanted, Cammie could have lifted her hand slightly and caressed the smooth skin of his abdomen through his shirt. Instead, she watched, riveted, as a bead of sweat slowly trailed down his neck, over his collarbone and down his shirt. Her heart beat quickly and she tried to control her breathing. He was so _close_. Her eyes made their way up his face slowly, tracing the line of his jaw, zooming in on his lips, up his cheeks, and finally to his eyes. He was staring at her intensely, and as she watched his eyes darkened. His eyes settled on her lips, riveted. He leaned forward, and for some reason Cammie thought he was going to k—

"Ms. Morgan, Mr. Goode." Beau's smooth voice came from behind them spontaneously. Impulsively they both took a quick step back, and turned to face their instructor, embarrassed. Beau was glaring agitatedly at Zach, like he was a fly buzzing around the older man's head, and Zach readily returned to look haughtily.

"Was there something you needed, _sir?_" Zach said sarcastically, his eyes challenging.

"I just wanted to _commend _you for being the first two runners to finish all fifty laps," Beau said, barely covering a sneer and Zach's expression hardened coolly. Cammie thought Beau was mocking them, but she couldn't be sure. "Usually," the older man continued, "I would only applaud the first, but seeing as one of you is a Gallagher Girl and one a Blackthorne Boy, I figured I might as well congratulate you both. And here you both were, oh-so-conveniently." Now Cammie was sure he was being ironic. _He interrupted us on purpose! _she realized angrily. _That slime ball! Zach was going to—he had almost—argh!_ "So, anyways," Beaus said, looking at his nails like he had someplace to go that would be less of a waste of his time. Cammie fought the urge to snort. "Well done, you two."

"Thank you." Zach said stiffly, barely hiding his anger.

Beau raised an eyebrow. "Thank you…?" Beau prompted, leaving the sentence hanging in the air.

"Thank you _sir_," Zach said obediently, like a dog whose cruel master had hit it. Beau smiled smugly. Zach fought to keep his demeanor calmly aloof.

"Thank you, sir," Cammie muttered, staring hardly at him. She caught herself just before her lip curled in disgust when he flashed her a meaningful smile.

"Anyways, goodnight," Beau said, nodding formally and turning to address everyone. "That's it for tonight, ladies and gentlemen! Good work, and I'll see you all next time. Hit the showers!" As boys passed him to return to their bunkers, Beau patted them on the shoulder amicably, offering words of felicitation. Wait—was he being _nice_ to them? At this rate, Beau was going to give her whiplash. As Cammie watched, she was struck by how _different _he was around his other students.

So overview: Beau was the creepy Night Drill instructor with a pervert mind, who loved his job and was extremely good at it, and was friendly and polite to his Blackthorne students. Um, mood swings, much? Maybe he was bipolar.

Cammie turned to follow everyone, trying not to blush when Zach walked with her. They didn't talk on the way back to the bunker, but both were extremely aware of the other's presence. Once, when they were passing the blacked out cafeteria, their hands had brushed together slightly. They had both blushed, thought Cammie admitted her's was much more profuse than his slight coloring of the cheeks. When she had glanced up at him, on instinct, she was startled to see him looking at her. He, noticing her surprise, sent her a cocky smirk and continued walking, pretending it hadn't happened. They didn't make eye contact for the rest of the walk.

.~***~.

Grant groaned as he entered the bunker and threw himself onto his bed. He fell asleep right away, without even taking off his shoes.

Cammie and Zach followed behind, the last ones to arrive. The bunker was dimly lit by one of the weak lamps, casting shadows all over the bunker. The beds were filled with snoring, passed out lumps. Cammie unzipped her jacket and was about to shrug it off when Zach politely took it for her, hanging it up with his. She smiled at him, murmuring, "Thanks, Zach."

Cammie turned to move to her bed when Zach's hand shot out to gently capture her hand. Her eyes widened at the contact, and she blushed.

Zach was staring at her fixedly, his eyes boring into hers. Cammie's stomach fluttered in a way it hadn't since Josh. Her heart thumping loudly in her chest.

Then Zach smirked deviously, and the entire mood changed from something innocent and simple to something…sultry and sexy. "Cammie," he said, huskily. His hands moved to her shoulders, and she almost jumped when his thumbs started rubbing her skin in circles. Her eyes fell shut and her head tilted back slightly. It felt…_really_ good. Really, _really_ good. If Zach ever decided he didn't want to be a spy, she would be the first to suggest he be a masseuse. _She_ would go to him, that's for sure. Zach towered over her, watching her expression change with rapture as her massaged her thoroughly. Cammie sighed blissfully.

Cammie didn't know how long they stood like that, but finally the last lamp was turned off and they stood there in the dark.

Cammie blinked when Zach finally stopped, feeling lighter than air, and more relaxed than she had in a long time. Then he leaned down to her ear and Cammie shivered at the feel of his warm breath gently wafting over the skin of her neck, caressing it. "Goodnight, Cammie," he whispered, his voice melting over her name, and his breath tickling her ear. She shivered, breathless.

She could barely make out his form in the darkness, but she could feel his eyes trained on her as she pulled the covers back from her bed and slid in. She watched the darkness, but she never saw him move to his own bed and fall asleep silently.

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><p><strong>AN**

First, I'm **sorry it took me so long to update**, honestly. :/ I wish I could write all day long all the time and finishes stories quickly, but I can't. So both you guys and I have suffer. And trust me, I do suffer.

**REVIEWS**: Okay, guys. Normally I'm not one to beg for reviews because, in my opinion, that's like fishing for compliments. _But_, in this case I am. I just think I could be getting a lot more reviews. I _know_ a lot of people are reading my story (I've checked the traffic) so I'm kind of **disappointed** that only 50-some people have reviewed. I mean, **the story has been** **up for awhile**. And all the reviews I _have _gotten have been good. I don't know, is it just really **not that good of a story**? **Is that why** **people aren't reviewing**? I guess I just don't understandit. But just know that the more reviews I get—and the more _**suggestions**_—I get, the faster and the better the chapters will come. The reason I'm really begging for suggestions is because, and I know I say it a lot but I'll say it again, **I DON'T HAVE A PLAN FOR THIS STORY!** Meaning I have _no idea_ where this is going. Pretty soon I'm going to **run out of ideas**! And then the story will likely be given up! After the next chapter or two I'm not going to have any idea what to write and then I'll just have to give the story up. It's not like I have a vague idea to go on or anything. I literally have no idea what will happen in this story. I mean, I know what I want to say in relation to thing like Cammie's dad, what happened with Josh, and why the Blackthorne Boys are stand-offish with Cammie, but I can't have a bunch of explanations with no plot. **Help me!**

**TIME/SETTING:** And I just wanted to clarify on when this story takes place because I don't think I ever did. Anyways, its **mid to late October**, so both schools have already started, and the girls are picking up with Blackthorne classes. I just thought you should know because I didn't want anyone thinking it was freezing in the beginning of September. Nononono, it's definitely freezing out. **Almost winter**.

**BETA-ED?: **I just want to make it clear **that I'm not getting this story beta-ed** at all. So I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistake, or anything like that. Because of the length of these past few chapters I haven't been doing a lot of **revision** either. Generally I write it all out then go through it once, maybe twice just in case. So **sorry for anything** **I don't catch**.

**ABOUT THIS CHAPTER:** This chapter was really **hard** **for me to write**. I expect the next one will be too. Once I got to the part about Beau and attendance for the Night Drills I had a super bad case of **writers block**! But then, after, like, five days, it just started flowing again. Unfortunately, I think around there the **entire mood and the tone of the story changed** too. It just felt a little more Cammie/Gallagher Girls sounding to me. Before, I was kind of writing in serious mode because I've been writing my other fic in which the mood is a lot **darker than this one**, so I just sort of kept that up, but after I got over this writer's block I was a lot more into writing Cammie's thoughts, and I was a little bit more liberal with sarcasm and the character's internal rambling.

I know I said this chapter was going to be a lot more, but I accidentally wrote a lot more about the Night Drills than I meant too. It was long enough to definitely post so I figured I might as well, instead of making everyone wait until I write the rest.

**ABOUT THE CHARACTERS:** So…I just realized how absolutely out of charactermy characters are…it's making me depressed… **Send me a review about what I can do to make the characters sound more authentic**, cause I really don't know. Like, tell me if Cammie needs to be more sneaky or silly or anything, or if Zach doesn't come off as…well, as _Zach_, you know?

About **Beau**…um…well, I never meant for him to come off as a pervert rapist. Originally, he was just going to be a nice guy. But then I started writing him and his character sort of developed itself, really. I never meant for it to happen, but I'm kind of glad it did. It makes him unique in a way, and shows that Blackthorne isn't all happy and light, like Dr. Steve. It's actually a dark place, with bad people. Plus, every good story needs a good villain, and up till now I didn't have one planned.

So Beau's my villain; Dr. Steve is the slightly clueless, happy-go-lucky director who has a lot of secrets; Tyler is my closeted-gay, friendly, nice-guy best friend; Grant is the girl-crazy, good-like male specimen; Zach is the cocky, secretive, top-of-the-class guy; Jonas is the Liz-equivalent nerd, with small muscles, but muscles none the less.

**NEXT CHAPTER:**

Getting ready in the bunker, boys in towels, communal showers, breakfast, "Julien", schedules, and maybe classes. I know I keep promising classes will start, but I end up writing really long chapters that just don't get me there yet.

**Preview**: "Pst!" Something small hit the back of Cammie's head. "_Pst!"_ Cammie turned around and fixed the boy leaning across the isle talk to her with a glare. She put a hand to her hair and her face morphed in bewildered disgust.

"Did you just throw _egg_ at my head?"

He laughed. "Hey baby," the boy said with a wink. His eyes raked Cammie body and she suddenly felt dirty. "My name's—"

"Going to end up on a gravestone if you don't turn around and mind your own business," said and angry voice.

"Julien!"

…..

"Yes…but you have to admit," she grinned, "His voice is effin' sexy!"

…..

Okay. Moment broken. "_Bex_!"

**UPDATE: Thank you** to everyone who gave me advice about the whole dead or alive thing in regards to **Cammie's dad**. I've made my decision and I can't wait for it to come out in the fic! And I've decided **I'm probably going to bring Madam Dabney **into this, but I'm still a little sketchy, so **if I shouldn't stop me now**!

**Read and Review! SUGESTIONS, PLEASEEEEEEEE! **

Love,

Katie

**P.S. (KIND OF, MAYBE, SORT OF IMPORTANT!)**

For anyone who's interested, I've just started something new** on my profile**. I'm just calling it **Letter Grades**, but basically what it is is I've given each of my stories a letter grade (A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, D+, D, etc.) based on** how I think I did as an author AND what I think of the story as a reader. **

Now, I had this idea of **asking ****my readers** **what they would give my stories**. If you're interested at all you can **PM me, leave it in a review, or I've got a poll open on my profile **for it. Right now I'm **taking votes** **for this story (Brotherhood**), but later, **if people actually end up doing this, I'll do them for my other stories**.

I thought it'd be really cool to compare my rating with yours, so tell me what you think! :)

Also, I want you all to know I've changed the names of a bunch of my stories, an I might for this one too. I haven't decided yet, but if I do I'll let you know In an author's note before that, so you aren't totally confused.

Oh, Scott and Tyler Hill are brothers too. I don't think I mentioned them in the author's note where I mentioned most of the others. Scott's a senior, and you know Tyler's in Cammie's class.

**P.P.S.** Wow, these author's notes are getting _really_ long!

**P.P.P.S.** I'm just about to post this right now and **I just had the most brilliant idea**! I've decided that when Tyler comes out as gay there will be a confrontation between him and his brother Scott, who had always known but denied it, saying it was wrong and his brother would never be a poof. Then Tyler get's really hurt (emotionally, but maybe physically in a fight, too?) and Scott and him have some sort of touchy-feely brother moment. Maybe, if I do have them fight and get hurt, his parents could come in to Blackthorne and we'd get to meet them. Anyways, I just had to share! I'm so excited! At this point, I think this story is going o be a long one that I'll continue for awhile. I don't see it finishing anytime soon, especially since it could easily have to cover an entire school year, since that's how long the exchange is. Except maybe something big will happen and the exchange will ne cut short! I need to write all these ideas down somewhere!

**P.P.P.P.S.** My author's note is three pages long…. Okay, I'm going to stop now.


	7. Communal Showers of the Gods and Guests

**The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan****: C**_h_A_**p**_t_E_**r**_ 6_

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><p><strong>Review Replies<strong>** (A/N **Sorry I couldn't respond to any of the awesome reviews you guys left me, FanFiction wouldn't let me for some reason. So I'm doing it here. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**)**

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><p><span>Signed Reviews:<span>

_Ironicpseudnymehere—_I'm glad you like it, and thanks for the review. : ) Lol, and I'm happy the grammar and spelling are appreciated.

_Clarinetto14_—I'm glad you like the length! In my other stories my chapters were only 1,000-1,500 words, on average, but I used to get tons of reviews asking for longer chapters. These ones are about 4,500-6,000 words on average. Hope you like this chapter just as much! And I'm so glad you liked the Night Drills Chapter : ).

_TheWitchOfTheSouth_—I'm glad you think they're pretty much in character, though I do agree Zach was being forward. I don't really have a reason he gave her a freaking massage in the dark, but what the hay! Zammie goodness : ) I'm really happy you like Tyler, because he's one of my favorite characters in this story. I'm finding out that I have a LOT of fun creating characters, lol. Originally he wasn't even going to be a big character in this, but I needed a friend for her and I randomly chose him. Now I'm really glad I did because his character has sort of developed itself. I never saw him going this far, but he took on a life of his own. At first I thought I as going to use Matt, but then I realized his name was Matt like Cammie's dad and was like _'Duh! I can't use him! Major problemo!'_, so I settled for Tyler instead, because I felt their characters was the most similar. Now I'm really glad I chose Tyler. As for Cammie's dad, I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that this is NOT, by any means, a CoC story! This is all romance and fluff, with a little bit of history. No action, as far as the CoC or CIA or anything is concerned. The only action/fighting in this fic will be in P.E.

_HorseLoverKT_—Thanks for the grade : ). I'm glad people are actually doing it! I've actually developed a story line based on some of the reviews I've gotten. I finished it, literally, ten minutes ago. I agree with you about Tyler and Scott. And bringing their parents into it would just complicate everything anyways, and there's really no point. There won't be any CoC/Action in this story.

_Bubzchoc_—Thanks! And thanks for the review : )

_Zammierulz_—Lol, thanks for the review and the support : )

_Shana176534_—thanks : )

_Flying-Squirrelz_—Hahaha, I'm glad this is making you smile! I do that _all_ the time, and then I catche myself and I'm like _'oh crap! Hope no one saw!'_

_Zammie4ever_—I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for the review : )

_Rainbow0love_—Review or PM or whatever is fine with me, really. Thanks for the suggestions, they actually really helped me. I can't say I'll use exactly them, but they gave me a lot of inspiration I needed to figure out what I wanted to happen, so I definitely owe you one! : ) Thanks for the grade, I really appreciate it! : )

_HayleeGoode97_—Lol, thanks for the review and the suggestion. It may be cliché, but I love fics with Truth or Dare or I Never or anything like that. I'll definitely take it into consideration.

_..Blonde_—Thanks, and I'll try to get the chapters out as fast as I can : ) Once school starts thought (for me it's on August 17) I might put the story on hiatus though. On the side, I'll be writing chapters, but I might not post them during the school year unless I actually finish the story.

_Missperfect23_—The preview was basically three different previews, so that's probably why you didn't get it. It was just three small excepts from this chapter. Idk if I'll bring in Abbey. I like the idea, but I never really envisioned her in this story, so I can't say if it will or will not happen.

_SkierChick_—Thanks! : )

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><p><span>Anonymous Reviews:<span>

_(…)_—I'm glad you like Tyler so much, lol! Sorry though, he's totally mine! He might be gay, but he's freaking sexy! Right now the plan is for the girls to find out the delio with the boys in chapter 11 since it's the climax, and I'll try my best to stick to that, but sometimes the stuff I plan for doesn't fit in the amount of chapters I predict, so stuff gets a little drawn out. : ). Thanks for the review!

_Lovelymemories_—I'm glad you like the story, and I'm ESPECIALLY glad you like the authors notes! They're so much fun, and it's true I put a LOT of background info in them. So I'm glad people are reading them and getting the information.

_Ggfan_—Thanks! : )

_Riz_—Thanks!

_ASDFGHJK—_Thanks for BOTH the reviews, lol : ) I liked your idea of the girls overhearing the boys talking a lot, and right now I've actually got it in my story plot plan (that I made literally fifteen minutes ago), but I can't guarantee it'll definitely be in there, just because sometimes plans change, you know?

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><p><span>The Story So Far:<span>

Cammie and the Gallagher Girls arrived at Blackthorne, and all of them except Cammie were immediately welcomed by the boys. Tyler Hill took pity on Cammie and easily befriended her, but he was the only boy willing to. Zach, another junior boy, was intrigued and confused by Cammie, who seems to know nothing of her father's involvement at Blackthorne, but only watched her from afar. There was immediate chemistry between Zach and Cammie, much to Cammie's embarrassment and Zach's amusement. During dinner, the girls found out they would be sharing a bunker with the boys, much to their dismay, leading to a fight between Tina and Cammie.

In the middle of the night, the girls were surprised with Night Drills, a vigorous night-training program they will be graded on. The Night Drill instructor/sergeant, Beau, immediately singles out Cammie, just like the other boys did. Except, instead of singling her out to make her a social pariah, Beau singled her out because he is sexually attracted to her…in the creepiest way possible. Rapist, much? Cammie thinks so.

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><p><strong>Chapter Six: Communal Showers of the Gods and Breakfast Surprises<strong>

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><p><em>Blackthorne Institute for Boys<em>

_Desk of Col. J. Jameson_

_Security Chief_

* * *

><p><em>Security Report:<em>

Accompanying the Gallagher Girls for the entirety of the exchange (taking place at Blackthorne Institute for Boys) are two armed guards, traditionally stationed at Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. Below are their profiles, pulled from the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women's files by Headmistress R. Morgan, per the request of Col. J. Jameson (Security Department Head, Blackthorne Institute for Boys). Approval granted by Dr. Steven Sanders.

**Hamon, Wesley A. **(CIA-active)

Age: 18

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, British

Education: Unknown

Profession: Security Agent (Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women)

Family: Mother: Anastasia Hamon (General Store Manager). Father: Francis Hamon (General Store Owner). Brothers: Edmund Hamon. Caleb Hamon. Jacob Hamon. Joseph Hamon. Sisters: Sarah Hamon. Ann Hamon. Jane Hamon. Erika hamon. Sophie Hamon.

**O'Connery-Walsh, Julien M. **(CIA-active)

Age: 19

Sex: M

Ethnicity: Caucasian, Scottish

Education: Blackthorne Institute for Boys

Profession: Security Agent (Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women)

Family: Father: Jacob Walsh (CIA-retired). Mother: Julia O'Connery-Walsh (MI6-retired). Brother: Walsh, Gabriel (MI6-active). Sister: Julia O'Connery-Walsh II, deceased.

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><p><em>Blackthorne Institute for Boys<em>

_Junior Bunker_

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><p>Cammie woke to bright sunlight filtering in through the windows, dust particles floating in the air. She stretched her hands over her head and sat up. She hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time, and she blushed when she remembered exactly why. Ahem, massage, ahem.<p>

She looked around and wasn't surprised to see all the boys had already left, probably for the showers. It seemed like the boys stuck together, and weren't gifted with a large amount of patience.

Across the isle, Bex was staring at the ceiling. Above her, a ladybug was crawling through the cracks in the ceiling, trying to find it's way out. Liz was lying across her bed, reading Aerospace Engineering Through the Ages. Cammie laughed, catching the two girls' attention.

"Great, you're up Cam!" Bex grinned, with a mischievous in her eyes. She jumped up from her bed and went to rummage around in her trunk. "Let's go shower! The boys have already left! Don't worry about the other girls," she nodded her head at the sleeping lumps, "they set their alarms for later so they wouldn't have to shower with the guys."

Cammie's smile dropped and her stomach fell about two hundred and ten feet. "Shower with the guys?" she repeated. Cammie exchanged terrified glances with Liz.

"You aren't serious, are you Bex?" The southern blonde asked anxiously.

Bex looked up and laughed mischievously at the look on their faces. "Of course I am! You aren't getting out of it now! I want to see me some sexy boy bodies!" Liz and Cammie exchanged horrified glances.

"Grab you're shower shoes and let's go!" Bex said, running out of the bunker.

Cammie groaned and fell back on her bed.

.~***~.

_Junior & Senior Shower Room_

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><p>"Okay, the faster we get in there, shower, and get out, the better," Cammie muttered to Bex and Liz. Liz jerked her head up and down in a petrified nod, and Bex grinned. Cammie always got nervous when Bex grinned like that. Liz clutched her shower bag to her chest tightly.<p>

The three girls stood in front of the Shower Room, listening to the muted sound of male laughter and running water.

It was a small, sleek-looking building, with a line of glass block windows running the length of the structure from front to end, set at about eye level. Through the glass were barely visible human forms, stretching their arms above their heads and shaking their hair like wet dogs.

Cammie gulped. Cautiously, the girls opened the door and peeked inside.

The shower stalls ran on either side of a long isle, like a stable, and each shower stall was about as wide as two girls, standing side by side, so there was just enough room for overdeveloped, hormonal male teenagers with attitude problems. The walls dividing the showers were made completely of frosted glass block. The stall doors were a finished cherry wood, and set half a foot off the ground, feet and ankles poking out from under them, and the same length down from the ceiling, so no one could peek over the top. The floor down the isle was made of the same wood as the stall doors, but inside each shower the ground was made of grey and black mosaic tile, and the floors sloped to let the water down the drain in the corner of the shower stall. Towels hung on hooks mounted in the glass block in between each stall. At the very end of the building the room widened and shower stalls were replaced with pristine white sinks, with hanging, lighted mirrors. There was a bench sitting in the isle in between the two rows of sinks, with clothes and towels liberally draped all over it.

Cammie's jaw dropped. It was beautiful! It looked like a luxury bathroom Cammie's mother would have designed. How was that even possible with teenage boys using it? Cammie didn't know a lot about boys, but what she did know was that they weren't exactly bathroom sanitary creatures.

And it was so _clean_! Not at all what Cammie was expecting. It looked like the entire building had been newly renovated. The grout and the tile were perfect, there wasn't any mold or mildew, no hairballs clogging the drains, not even any soap scum!

Were they boys or housewives?

"Holy moly," Cammie exclaimed loudly, without thinking. Immediately, the laughing ceased and the figures behind the frosted glass froze.

"Oops," Cammie gulped. Liz glared at Cammie accusingly.

"Well," Bex said, her English accent staining her voice. "We might as well go in, now that they know we're here." She sent Cammie a meaningful look (at which the reprimanded girl ringed) and calmly entered the Shower Room with her head held high.

Bex strut down the isle fearlessly, as if she were unaware of the male heads peaking out of the showers stalls. Grant poked his head out and his eyes widened when he saw Bex, but she breezed by him like he wasn't there. "Bex?" He choked, surprised and embarrassed. He quickly grabbed the towel hanging on the hook and shut his shower door with a bang, in a desperate attempt to make sure his family jewels were covered.

Cammie and Liz tentatively went in after Bex. Liz pushed Cammie in front of her like a human shield, keeping a firm grip on the back of Cam's shirt.

Everywhere Cammie looked there were naked boys staring at her with blank faces, watching as she stumbled forward. Even though she couldn't see anything from their ankles up, it was the knowledge that behind those flimsy cherry doors there were stark naked boys, scrutinizing her, like a cat studies a mouse before it eats it, that made Cammie sweat.

Cammie hurried down the isle to Bex, as fast as she could without slipping, keeping her eyes trained on the floor.

Cammie hated being seen, but it was so much worse when the ones seeing you were naked teenage boys.

"Here, Cam," Bex said when they had caught up. She gestured to one of three empty stalls she had found. Unfortunately, it was only halfway down the isle (so there would be boys on both sides of her, and worse, the other two stalls Bex had spotted were on the other end of the Shower Room, far, _far_ away. Cammie felt absolute, horrible dread settled deep in her stomach.

Just as she opened her mouth to protest vehemently, but Bex cut her off with a smile, a wink, and a "Have fun," before promptly bouncing off to shower, Liz trailing behind her with only an apologetic smile for Cammie. Cammie felt all the air leave her body.

The boys in the surrounding stalls turned to look at her. She tried not to notice, but she recognized a few of them. One of them was the golden haired boy who had helped them the night before, Michael (when he saw her he sent her a small smile); in the stall directly across from her Daniel Lee, another junior, ducked back into his stall and locked the door; Matt was there (Cammie tried not to cringe), in the stall diagonal to her; on her left was a senior who's name she didn't know, but she recognized from last night; and finally, on her right was Zach, leaning cockily against his door and smirking at her with sexy green eyes—_wait, what_?

_Zach? _

_Holy crap, _Zach_!_

_What are the chances Zach of all people would end up in the stall next to m—Bex! Holy crap! She must have set this up! I'll kill her! I'll pummel her until she's pulp! How could she?_ Cammie mentally despaired. Lost in her thoughts, she absentmindedly watched beads of crystal water run down Zach's face, drip down his temple past glittering emerald eyes, slide over strong cheekbones, glide along his jaw line, and drop down onto the pale skin of his collarbone—Cammie suddenly shook her head. _UGH, _BEX_!_

Cammie didn't realize she had been staring at his chest until he licked his lips and winked arrogantly. "Care to join me, Gallagher Girl?"

Cammie's jaw dropped, and just like that her moment of admiration was over. _Way to ruin it, Zach. _

"No!" Cammie exclaimed, her face morphing to one of disgust. "Absolutely not!" she rambled, obviously flustered. Her face flushed. "I would never—ew! Gross! Jeez, no way!"

Zach laughed out loud and winked once more, before wordlessly pulling his head back into his stall and shutting the door.

Still blushing, Cammie did the same, apprehensively stepping into the stall (still fully clothed). She shut the door and looked around.

Above her, in the ceiling, a skylight let in the morning sun, though there was a shower light drilled onto the wall. The large waterfall showerhead stuck out from the wall. The floor was black and grey mosaic tile, and it angled gently towards the corner drain.

In between the stalls, the walls were made completely of frosted glass block. She could vaguely make out Zach's hands rubbing down his—she blinked her hand flew up to her mouth in horror. She did _not_ just think that! No way, Jose!

"You can't see them," she told herself, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "They aren't even there." She opened her eyes again. _Oh, but I _can_! …Well, technically it's more of a vague outline_, _but it still counts. I can still see what he's doing and… where he's putting his hands. _Cammie gulped.

And if _she_ could see _them_…then _they_ could see _her_.

They could see her undressing.

_Oh my god_. Cammie tried not to hyperventilate.

_Okay, Cammie,_ she thought, _just breathe. Just breathe…It's all going to be okay. Just take your shower, Cammie, and then it'll all be over._ Cammie took a deep breath and braced herself.

With shaking hands, Cammie quickly undressed herself. She hung her clothes over the top of the door (taking extra care to make sure her underwear was stuffed into the pant leg of her jammies, so the boys wouldn't get a peek at her pink and yellow striped underwear) next to her towel. Cammie took extra care not to notice how still the boys in the stalls on either side of her had become, and how their heads were suspiciously turned towards her. She _definitely _didn't notice the way the unnamed senior quickly turned around and moved his hand to the juncture in between his—_NOPE! I see nothing! Nothing at all!_

Cammie turned the water on full blast, as quickly as she could.

Slowly—very, _very_ slowly—she started to relax under the hot spray and steam.

.~***~.

When she was finished she shut the water off and pushed her wet hair back from her face. She quickly wrapped her towel around her body, nice and snug.

Cammie peered out her door. Most of the boys had already left by now, including Zach, but Bex and Liz were still showering. Cammie could hear Bex humming over the spray of the water.

Cammie left her stall and went to knock on Bex's stall door. "Bex, it's Cammie." Bex quieted. "I'm going to head back to the bunker now, okay?"

"Sure thing, Cam. I'll see you at breakfast."

"Bye." Cammie knocked on Liz's door and told her the same.

Cammie left the Shower Room, shivering from the frigid October air. All she had on was a towel, since the bunker was just around the corner. Cammie hadn't wanted to put on her dirty clothes, and in a wet shower no less, so she had opted to stick with the towel. She figured no one would see her since everyone (meaning the boys) were probably already at breakfast, which ran from eight to ten, anyways.

When Professor Buckingham had first them classes didn't start till ten thirty, the girls were thrilled, to say the least. Classes back home started at eight thirty everyday, and there was a strict nine o'clock curfew. This meant they could practically sleep in everyday, and take, as much time as they needed getting ready, given they weren't to keen on breakfast. Dr. Steve warned them that the food went fast, because the boys all liked to eat, a lot.

Cammie pulled her towel tighter around herself and made her way back to the bunker.

Just as she was about to turn the corner, she heard the unmistakable sounds of boys walking her way. Cammie froze, her eyes darting for a place to hide. No way was she going to let them see her in nothing but a towel.

Seeing no place to hide, she pressed herself up against the corner of the building they were walking passed.

The smooth concrete wall was cold to the touch.

"You should have seen your face when she passed you!" Someone jeered playfully. They laughed.

"Shut _up_ man!" Another boy cried. The second boy punched the first, by the sound of it, on the shoulder.

"Cool it, Rex," a third scolded, but his tone was light. "It was just a joke."

"You didn't think it was so funny when she passed _you_!" Rex said.

The third boy scoffed. "Please! _Cammie Morgan_ has nothing on me. She got lucky."

Cammie froze, realizing they were talking about last night.

"Forget it, Isaac," Rex said, with a scoff in his voice.

"Let's go eat," the first boy interrupted, trying to ease the tension between the other two boys. "I'm starving! I hate when Beau works us hard."

"He had to make an impression on our _guests_," The one Cammie thought was Isaac jeered.

Cammie wrinkled her nose. What an ass.

"Whatever," the first boy said dismissively.

Cammie pressed herself against the wall harder as the three boys passed the building. None of them looked her way, but she wouldn't move until they were safely out of visible distance. She watched the three boys horse around, as they walked away. They must have been seniors, since she didn't recognize any of them from dinner or the junior bunker.

When they had rounded the corner, down the lane, Cammie let out a sigh of relief.

Quickly, without looking, she swung herself around the side of the building and out onto the street the bunker was on.

She froze.

Zachary freaking Goode was leaning up against the building (the one she had just been hiding behind), smirking at her.

_Holy crap_.

Cammie groaned. Why the heck was he _everywhere_?

"What's the matter, Gallagher Girl? Aren't you happy to see me?" His eyes looked her up and down and he laughed out loud. "What happened to your clothes, Gallagher Girl? Not that I mind," he winked. He ran a slender hand through his dark hair, his green eyes sparkling with mischief.

"You know," he mockingly scolded, "it isn't nice to hide from people!" He pouted. Yes, actually pout-age.

Cammie huffed, and put a hand on her hip. "That is none of your business!" she fumed. Suddenly, all she could think about was how annoying he was, with his little smirk and his little abs, and his little sexy hands—and always showing up all over the place. Was he following her?

"Are you following me?" she blurted, her eyes widening.

Zach blinked, then laughed out loud. "Of course not! Why would you think that?"

Cammie scowled. She hated being laughed at. "Because you're everywhere I go," she said pointedly, like she was talking to a three year old.

Zach rolled his eyes. "We live together now, Gallagher Girl. Get used to it." He smirked. He pushed himself off the wall and moved to stand in front of her…very close.

"Why do you do that?" Cammie wondered out loud.

"Do what?" Zach asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Call me Gallagher Girl. I have a name you know," she said, aggravated.

Zach's expression cleared and he smirked. Again. He shrugged. "You're a Gallagher Girl, aren't you?"

Cammie gave him a look that said _"So what?"_

Zach rolled his eyes. "I know you have a name, _Cammie_," Zach mocked. "But Gallagher Girl is your new nickname." Now he was the one talking to her like she was the three year old.

"Says who?" Cammie seethed, livid at Zach's audacity.

"Says me," he winked.

"Ugh!" Cammie groaned. "You're so annoying!" Cammie had almost completely forgotten she was standing in nothing but a towel in freezing October weather.

"But you like it," Zach said, grinning. "Admit it, you liked that massage I gave you last night."

Cammie flushed and she spluttered. "You ass!" she shrieked. "I—you—I didn't—how _dare_ you!"

Zach openly laughed at her, making her even angrier.

"Come on, Gallagher Girl," he said, taking a step closer. "Lighten up."

Cammie fumed. "Get out of my way!" she said suddenly, making to move pat him. When he didn't step aside, she pushed him out of the way and practically ran back to the bunker. She could hear him laughing at her from behind her.

"Jerk," she muttered.

.~***~.

_Cafeteria_

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><p>Cammie walked into the cafeteria, her head held high. She pretended not to notice the way the chattering boys fell silent as she passed their tables. She pretended not to notice the way their eyes followed her all the way to the junior table. She pretended not to notice the younger boys' blatant whispering, and the older boys' meaningful glances.<p>

"Good morning, Tyler," she chirped merrily as she sat down beside her new friend.

Tyler turned away from Matt to smile at her. "Morning Cammie." Behind him, Matt gave Cammie a nod and an awkward half-smile in greeting, and she returned it with a reserved smile of her own. Matt turned away to chat with Chris.

"How are you?" Tyler asked.

Cammie reached for a cherry pastry. "I'm okay." She looked up and raised an eyebrow at his teasing smile. "What?"

Tyler grinned. "How was your shower? See anything…interesting?" He waggled his eyebrows.

Cammie scowled. "Humph." She turned her nose up. "Very funny, Tyler."

Tyler laughed out loud. Cammie rolled her eyes and took a bite out of the pastry, holding it over her plate to catch the crumbs.

Just as she took a sip of her orange juice, Zach swooped down and parked himself in the seat directly across from her, his friends, Grant and Jonas, following and sitting on either side of him. "Ooh, pastry and OJ? Yummy, Gallagher Girl," he smirked.

Cammie nearly spit her OJ all over his arrogant, smug face.

Instead, she coughed. Spluttering, she angrily slammed her glass back onto the table, causing the juice to slosh over the rim and all over her hand. "_Zach!_"

"That's my name. But I must insist if you plan on screaming it that you wait until we're somewhere a little more private." He winked cheekily.

Cammie's mouth dropped open, along with Grant and Jonas'. Tyler sniggered.

"I—you—how dare you!"

"Funny, you keep saying that to me," he remarked.

Cammie scowled. Fuming, she wiped the juice off her hand with her napkin, and then threw it at Zach's face. It hit his cheek and fell onto the table. Zach stared at the napkin for a moment, then lifted his eyes to her and raised an eyebrow.

"Well that was mature."

"_Ugh!_ You complete butt!"

"Whoa, there. No need for name-calling. And 'butt'? Is that the best you can do?"

"I can't stand you!"

"That's okay, Gallagher Girl. I've got enough patience for the both of us."

"'Us'? Hah! What us? There is no us! There is me, Victim Cammie, and you, Cocky Ass."

"Cocky Ass, huh? You're getting better at this."

"Don't you have something better to do than annoy the heck out of me?"

"No, actually, I don't."

"_Ugh!_"

"That's it. Moans and groans and screams are perfect."

"You're a pig."

"Says the girl has pulp all over her hand. How many of those pastries did you manage to scarf down before I showed up and saved you from choking."

"I wasn't choking."

"But you probably would have if you had kept shoving those cherry pastries down your pretty little throat."

"For your information, I only had this one! And now my appetite is completely ruined!"

"Aw, was it seeing my wet, glistening abs this morning that put you off food?"

"You jerk! Yes, you put me off my breakfast, but it wasn't your 'wet, glistening abs'!

"Oh really? What was it then?"

"It was your bigheaded, egotistical attitude!"

"I knew you were going to say that. And I think we both know that it's a lie."

"It's not!"

"It definitely is. No sane woman could ever resist _this_! It's completely unrealistic."

"I think what's unrealistic is the size of your ego."

"We can talk about sizes if you want, Gallagher Girl, but it isn't going to be the size of my ego we discuss."

"You're disgusting!"

"You love it."

"Get real."

"I'm as real s they come."

"Whatever, Zach." Cammie scoffed. "You only wish."

Neither of them realized everyone was openly listening to their argument.

Just as Cammie's voice started to rise, Bex skipped into the cafeteria, Liz stumbling in after her.

"Morning Cammie," Bex crowed. She swooped down and took the seat next to Cammie. "Good morning, Boys," she greeted with a grin.

Grant winked at her, and she giggled.

"Good morning," Liz said shyly, sitting down as well. She was trying not to stare too obviously at Jonas.

"Morning," Cammie grumbled angrily.

"Ooh, Cammie's in a bad mood," Bex said, sipping her milk. "What's eating you, Cam?"

Cammie looked up from her food to glare at Zach. "Why don't you ask Mr. Goode?"

Zach smirked. "I have no _idea_ what you're talking about," he enunciated gleefully.

Cammie's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Excuse me?"

Zach actually had the freaking audacity to wink at her.

"I can't believe you!" Cammie exclaimed, outraged.

"Hey Tyler," Liz said, leaning over the table to see him. "What was up with that teacher last night?"

The question distracted Cammie. She wrinkled her nose at the thought of Beau, then turned to look at Tyler, too.

Tyler frowned. "He normally isn't that…creepy." At Cammie's doubtful look he said, "No, I mean it. I've never seen him act that way before. He was a total ass to you Cammie, I'm sorry."

Cammie gave Tyler a slight smile. "It isn't you fault your teacher's probably a registered sex offender."

Tyler laughed, but he turned serious again. "Are you sure you're okay? Beau's usually an okay guy, but I thought he was going to pin you down and force himself on you in front of us all last night." He was frowning down worriedly at her.

Cammie grimaced, feeling slightly sick. "I'm fine, Tyler."

"Besides," Bex said, trying to lighten the mood. "If he tries anything Cammie will kick his butt. Won't you Cam?"

Cammie smiled. "Of course I will." Then she put her head down and picked at her pastry, her appetite legitimately gone this time.

"Don't worry, Gallagher Girl." Zach's voice pulled Cammie's head up. He was smirking again, but it was different because his eyes were concerned. "I'll protect you from all evil."

Cammie laughed a little. She sent Zach a grateful smile when she knew no one was looking, and he lifted the corner of his mouth up in return, his eyes happy.

_When he isn't so annoying he's really kind of…sweet_, she thought.

The Bex spoke up. "He was really unnecessarily creepy last night…but you have to admit," she grinned, "his voice is effin' _sexy_!"

Okay. Sweet moment broken. "_Bex_!"

"What?" she asked. "It was!"

"Gee, thanks for the support," Cammie hinted with a scowl.

Bex sent her an apologetic look. "I can't help it, Cammie. He was so handsome!"

Grant scowled.

"Did you miss the part where he was mentally raping her, Bex?" Zach asked bluntly.

Liz shuddered, and Jonas patted her hand comfortingly, making them both blush.

"Seriously…" Tyler muttered, sending Bex a look that said _'Who let you out of the loony bin ten years to early?'_

Just then something soft hit the back of Cammie's head. She frowned and reached a hand to her hair.

"What's wrong?" Liz asked, catching her grossed out expression.

Cammie's eyes widened in disgust, and she spun around in her seat. Sitting at the table behind her was a group of guffawing sophomores, bumping fists obnoxiously.

"Cammie?" Bex said behind her.

"Did you just throw _egg_ at my head?" Cammie shrieked.

The boys looked at her, snickering. She glared at them.

The boy sitting in the middle laughed. "Hey baby," he said with a wink. Seriously? How old was this kid, and why did he think he had the right to act like a sex-deprived, twenty something?

His eyes raked Cammie body and suddenly she felt dirty.

Sex-Deprived Boy leaned across the small isle between the tables and held out his hand, leering pathetically at her. "My name is—"

"—Going to end up on a gravestone if you don't turn around and mind your own business!" said and angry voice behind Cammie.

Cammie's eyes widened and she whirled back around. "Julien!" she yelped in shock.

Standing behind Grant and Zach was a tall, handsome man. His gelled back hair was so dark it looked obsidian, and his silver eyes so pale they looked like mist. He glared furiously at Sex Deprived Boy, his hands clenched at his side.

Sex Deprived Boy's grin fell from his face. "Who are you?" he asked stupidly.

"I'm the one who's going to kick your ass if you don't apologize right now," Julien growled.

"Julien, calm down. I was dealing with it." Cammie said in a soothing voice, jumping into action.

Julien glanced at her, and his voice softened. "I'm not going to let this jerk disrespect you like that, Cam."

"It's okay, Julien," she insisted. "I can take care of him. Just sit down."

Julien gave her a frustrated look, but he thrust himself onto the bench, shoving Grant and Zach apart to make room.

"Whoa, man! Not cool," Grant exclaimed as he fell over on the bench.

Cammie ignored them and looked back at the boys one more time. She gave them a nasty look and they gulped. "I'm going to say this once, and hopefully you're tiny brains will absorb it: Leave. Me. Alone. I don't want anything to do with you or you're friends, so back off!"

"Who do you think you are?" Sex-Deprived Boy said furiously, standing up.

Cammie snorted. "Listen, I don't know what your problem is, maybe you were dropped as a baby, or you hit your head really hard—I don't care—but I want you to leave me alone. Get lives and stop with the disgusting, rude behavior. You aren't five years old, so grow up and leave me and my friends alone."

She turned her back on the angry boys.

"What jerks," she said to her friends, rolling her eyes. She pretended she didn't hear the humiliated boys get up furiously and leave the cafeteria. No one spoke until they had gone.

Once they did, Julien looked at Cammie, concerned. "Are you okay, Cammie?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," she assured him.

"Dude, who the hell are you, anyways?" Grant blurted. Zach elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow!" Grant exclaimed, rubbing for his side. "What was that for?" Zach rolled his eyes, so Grant sent him a dirty look.

"It was poor form," Tyler informed Grant, whose face lit up with comprehension.

Julien laughed. "I'm Julien O'Connery-Walsh," the older man said, smiling pleasantly. He stuck his hand out to Grant. "Nice to meet you."

Grant eyed his hand and snorted. "We bump here, man." He grabbed Julien's hand and balled it into a fist, then hit it with his own.

"Grant…" Jonas muttered exasperatedly, shaking his head.

"What are you doing here?" Cammie asked Julien, completely ignoring the bickering boys.

Julien grinned at her like he had a secret to tell. "Did you really think your mom was going to let you girls come here all alone?" Julien asked Cammie conspiratorially.

"No, but she sent Professor Buckingham to supervise us," Cammie replied, confused.

"To supervise _you_, sure, but she sent me to supervise _them_," he said, gesturing to the cafeteria full of boys. "I'm here to make sure guys like that jerk who was harassing you aren't a problem." Julien picked up what was left of Cammie's pastry and took a bite. He swallowed and added as an afterthought: "Oh, and Wesley's here, too."

"Wesley's here?" Bex said in surprise, sitting up straighter. "Where is he?"

"Who ever knows where Wesley is," Julien said, rolling his eyes. The girls laughed.

"Wait, I'm confused," Grant said, putting up a hand, his brows furrowed. ("Big surprise there," Zach muttered under his breath.) "Who's Wesley, and how do you know the Gallagher Girls?"

"Wesley and I are guards at Gallagher," Julien told them. "I started there two years ago, straight out of school—"

"Wait," Grant interrupted, "You went here didn't you? I remember you, now! You're Mr. Walsh's brother! Don't you guys remember him?" Grant asked Tyler, Zach and Jonas.

"Yeah, actually, now that you mention it," Tyler said, squinting at Julien.

"I knew you looked familiar!" Jonas exclaimed. "Mr. Walsh is one of my teachers. He's involved in the Research and Development Track."

Julien nodded. "That's him. Anyways, Headmistress Morgan sent us to bring the girls here and stay with them for the duration of the exchange. We're basically your body guards while you're here."

"So you're staying?" Cammie said, her eyes shinning hopefully.

"Of course, Cam," Julien winked at her. "If I didn't, who else would protect you from turd-eating retards like that jerk from before?"

"Who was that kid, anyways?" Cammie asked, her anger coming back at the mention of him.

"Xavier Gray," Tyler said, making a face of distaste

"They're all sophomores, but Xavier's brother, Xerxes, is a senior this year. They both run with bad crowds, always getting into trouble and disrespecting everyone," Zach said

"Donovan Fletcher was the one next to him." Grant said. "With Kaleb Flynn, Charlie Hughes, Toby Washington and Colby Powell. Sometimes Liam Barnes and Alex Elliot hang with them, too, so steer clear of them."

"What kinds of things do they do?" Julien asked, looking like he wanted to take notes.

"Steal towels, glue your butt to your chair, hang your underwear from the flagpole. Immature, but embarrassing crap."

"Why don't any of the teachers stop them?" Liz asked.

"Because things at Blackthorne are different than Gallagher," Julien answered for the boys, surprising them. "There are a strict set of rules everyone has to abide by—important, obvious stuff—but beyond that, there aren't any rules about anything. Technically, the things they're doing aren't wrong, because nowhere does it say they specifically can't do them. And no one changes the rules because they've been around for so long, since the school was started in 1806, that changing them isn't even fathomable.

"Exactly," Tyler said, nodding.

"Well someone should still do something," Bex argued.

"Sometimes the best way to teach someone a lesson is to let them do the wrong thing until they realize they're playing the fool," Zach said.

Cammie blinked. "Wow, Zach. That was…deep."

Zach smirked (Cammie internally sighed exasperatedly). "Oh, I can get deep, Gallagher Girl. In more ways than one." He winked.

"Someone save me, please," Cammie muttered to the heavens.

Just then Professor Buckingham strode proudly into the room. She waltzed up to them and smiled.

"Good morning, Professor Buckingham," the girls chanted (Grant snickered, but stopped when Professor Buckingham shot him a disapproving look).

"There you girls are! I'd been hoping to catch you before you left your…sleeping arrangements. Unfortunately, the other girls informed me you had already left for breakfast. I just wanted to give you your new schedules." She reached into her long dress and pulled out three slips of half paper. She handed them out to the girls. "Have a nice day, girls, and good luck." She winked and then she was gone.

"Come on," Tyler said, standing up. "We should get to class."

The other boys and girls nodded, Julien saying goodbye until later. Zach, Grant and Jonas went of on their own, and Bex and Liz ran back to the bunker to grab their bags. Cammie and Tyler walked together.

"What class do you have first, Cammie?" Tyler asked.

"Advanced Russian III," she answered looking down at her schedule.

"I think Chris has that class, and Dmitri, too."

"Doesn't Dmitri speak Russian already?"

"He does, but he says he needs the class to make sure he doesn't loose it, since he barely ever gets to speak it here."

The rounded the cafeteria building and Cammie's head snapped up.

"Wesley!" she shouted. She took of running down the deserted lane, towards the surprised boy, and flung her arms around his thin body.

The sandy haired boy (he was only eighteen, just graduated) laughed and wrapped his arms around her too.

Their breaths puffed in the cold air.

"I'm so happy to see you!" Cammie laughed.

"I'm glad to see you too, Cammie," Wesley said. He pulled back and looked her in the face. "They better not have been too hard on you," he said, and Cammie knew he was talking about the Blackthorne boys.

Cammie half shrugged. "The whisper and stare a lot. There's this one guy, Zach! He's such a jerk! Oh, and Tyler—he's really sweet! That's him right there," she turned and waved at Tyler, who was walking towards them. "You'll like him," she told Wesley.

Tyler came up to them. "Hi," he said, smiling. "You must be Wesley."

Wesley laughed out loud. "Been talking about me, Cam?" he winked.

Tyler grinned and held his hand out. "I'm Tyler."

Wesley grabbed it with his own and Cammie noticed Tyler blush.

"Nice to meet you," Tyler said, a little breathlessly. Probably from the cold. Wesley grinned.

"Well, we better get to class," Cammie said regretfully. "Bye, Wesley."

Wesley dropped a kiss on Cammie's head and smiled at Tyler. "Bye. I'll see you guys around."

"Bye," Tyler called, beaming.

* * *

><p><strong>AN** Be prepared guys. This is the longest Author's Note yet, but it's also the most info-packed, and by far my favorite. It's super-long, but I've put a lot of good, useful information in it.

Oh, and I'm sorry for such a long wait. It was actually a lot harder for me two write the shower scene than I thought it was going to be. I just couldn't find the words I wanted to use to describe it the way it played out in my mind, and in the end it was super different than what I had originally planned. And I really just rushed the end of this chapter, so sorry if it wasn't that great.

**Length**

This story is now longer than 'Curiosity Killed the Spy' ('Back to Gallagher'), but that story was 17 chapters and took me a year to write, and this one is only 6 chapters _so far. _**This story is still at the beginning, really. I barely consider it started, because most of it has been background to build the plot around. **I can't say this story will be finished before the end of this summer (I know I did before, but I was wrong). In fact, I'm expecting this to be an ongoing story for the next school year. But, hey, who knows? I could be completely wrong.

**School/Update Schedule**

Once school starts again though, I'm returning to my other story ('Counter Clockwise'), since I've put it on hold until then. I'll definitely keep writing this one, but **my time will be split between the two of them instead of just on this one**.

**Just so you know, school starts for me on August 17, and I'm moving literally the week before I need to be in school, so idk how frequent updates will be around then. Not to mention we're moving overseas, so that makes it all the harder.**

**Semi-Full New Character Biographies**

To anyone who noticed, **Julien and Gabriel Walsh** (Liz's quantum physics, chemistry and calculus teacher) _are_ brothers. Julien, his sister and his mother all took her maiden name in their last names (with hyphens) but Gabriel didn't. Or, well, Gabriel did as a kid, but after certain events, he changed his name to just his father's surname. Both Gabriel and Julien went to Blackthorne, but then Julien moved onto the CIA and then Gallagher, where as Gabriel was MI6 and then Blackthorne. Rachel assigned Julien _to_ the exchange because, not only did he go to Blackthorne (so he knows all about it's existence), but his brother was there. Their relationship isn't _strained_, but it is a little cold. I expect any brothers' relations would be if they never saw each other and were always keeping secrets from each other. They get on amicably, but they aren't close enough that they _talk_. When I say talk, I mean really talk about problems and their lives and girls and _everything_, like brothers and sisters do. Gabriel and his mother have a very bad relationship; where as Julien and her have a very good one. That contributes to their lack of closeness. If Gabriel was Germany, their dad was Switzerland, their mother was America and Julien was mostly Britain, but a less active Britain. Julien sides with his mother mostly, but he is never _actively_ is against Gabriel. Like he'll never be the one to start fights, but he'll defend his mom against his brother. The two are Scottish, but they don't really look like you'd expect. They have dark hair and silvery- grey eyes. Their hair is so dark it looks purple in some light. They're strange looking, but handsome. Originally I wrote that their parents were both dead, but then I changed my mind. They had a sister, Julia, but she died when she was young (9 years old) in a freak accident, which is the source of Gabriel and Julia's (the mother, not the sister. The sister was named after the mother) tense relationship. Before she died, Julia was closest to Gabriel. Gabriel blamed his mother for his sister's death, because she was supposed to be watching her, but she left her alone and then the accident happened. That was also why Gabriel changed his last name.

**Wesley** didn't know about Blackthorne. He never went to a spy school. Wesley is blonde with brown eyes. He came from a large, poor family in Britain. They own a general store and all work there, except for Wesley. He is CIA even though he's from Britain. He's closest to his sister Sarah (23), although everyone in their family is close. He's the oldest boy. His sisters Sarah, Ann (20) and Jane(19) are both older than him, but Erika (13) and Sophie (4) are younger. He has four younger brothers, Edmund "Ed" (18), Caleb (16), Jacob (11), and Joseph (8). Yes, that is an obscene amount of children, over a very long period of time. That's why the family struggles for money, but Wesley's parents are very much in love and have never complained. They're the type of people who are all around nice, caring, loving people who don't really give a shit about money. They are truly happy with their family.

**More About Characters**

**I love creating characters.** : ) It's so much fun coming up with their entire _lives_!

Some of you may have noticed **I like to write a lot of** **families**. I figure, there are probably a lot of spy families (like Cammie and Bex's) so I put them in when I feel comfortable. It just makes sense to me. There are a lot of brothers at Blackthorne.

**Tyler **_**will**_** have a love interest** in this, though I won't be focused on him all that much. There will be a chapter for that, including the argument I mentioned he might have with his brother. That's the 'Tyler's Happy Ending' chapter I mentioned earlier. Mostly though, Cammie will just notice it in passing, I think. Unless you guys want it…? Just let me know. : ) **Can anyone guess who it is**?

Oh, yeah. **Someone mentioned in a review** (sorry, I can't remember who, but if it was you, thank you so much!) that **Cammie isn't very close to her female friends in this story** after my comment about my characters being OOC in my last Authors Note. I'm glad they pointed this out, because I actually did it **intentionally**. At first, when I started writing this story, I didn't want to come out and give a lot of background about what I changed in the story. I really wanted to introduce it like it was it's own entirely new story, and slowly uncover stuff like Cammie's issues. BUT, the fact of the matter is that this is fanfiction—not it's own story. So I've changed my mind, and I think in the long run this will save everyone a lot of confusion, because they'll be expecting the story to turn pretty AU (alternate universe). I won't reveal everything yet, but I will say that **Cammie's distance with her friends** (they're all still best friends, but the reality is after some **ahem** certain events **ahem** they aren't AS close as they used to be) ties in with **Cammie's dad, Josh, and Cammie's perspective about the life of a spy**. That stuff is what is really going to make this story **AU**, basically.

**A lot of people have asked me if this was going to be a fighting/CoC action story**. The answer to that is **NO.** Big fat NO. This story is taking place _after_ the CoC has been taken down and completely eliminated, so there is no chance of them showing up in this story. Any and all references to it are because it is part of a lot of peoples' pasts (like Cammie's dad, Zach, Joe Solomon, etc.). If any of you are confused about that or anything, then just leave me a review or pm me and I'll answer all of your questions.

**About Oncoming Chapters**

I just wanted to stop and say how excited I am to **have finally planned out the plot for this story! **

And…well…**I just can't wait till it's done**. I know that sounds really bad of me, but I've kind of got a lot of other fics I've been waiting to get onto, but I don't want to have too many big stories going on at once, so I've put those on hold until this one is done.

Also, at the beginning of each chapter I'm going to have cool little special excerpts and stuff (like I've been doing), but **instead of things like profiles and security logs, it's going to be more things like diary entries**. In fact, I'm so excited that I'm just going to tell you what to expect, with the title of the chapter!

Chapter 7: Uncle Joe…? _Matt Morgan Diary Entry_

Chapter 8: NAME UNDECIDED _Matt Morgan Diary Entry_

Chapter 9: Painting the Town _Tyler Journal Entry (About his love interest)_

Chapter 10: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun _Cammie Journal Entry (About Josh)_

Chapter 11: A Chameleon's Secrets _Letters from Cammie to her dad and Josh_

Chapter 12: Now that Cammie Knows _Everything A Guide to Everything A Guy Has to Know About A Girl, Based on Recent, Personal Experiences—A Compilation of Quotes from the Junior Class of Blackthorne Institute for Boys_

Chapter 13: Putting off a Pedo _10 Reasons Men are Useless, and Pedos are Creepy, A List by Cameron Ann Morgan _AND _10 Reasons Men are Useful and Zachary Goode is Wonderful_

Chapter 14: Tyler's Happy Ending _Tyler Journal Entry (About brother, love interest, etc.)_

Epilogue: Literally, Gallagher Girl, This is Only the Beginning _10 Ways to Fit In/ Start of a New Year, a List by Cameron Ann Morgan_

Oh, and as you can probably tell, **JOSH plays a big part in this story** Don't worry, he's not actually going to physically come to Blackthorne or anything, but he is a big part of Cammie's past, just like her dad, and the CoC.

**Formatting**

I **changed** the formatting of the story. **You like? ;)**

And notice how I've added structure to my author's notes? Lol!

**About Changing Fandoms**

So… I've been thinking. I'm kind of not really into the Gallagher Girls fandom anymore. It's not that I don't love GG, but I've read a lot of GG stories, and most of the stories I've written have been GG, too. So I was thinking that **after this story is finished I'm going to stop writing GG fanfiction**.

Basically, **one of three things could possibly happen**:

I stop writing GG stories after this one is finished, and start writing Harry Potter.

OR

I write _one more story,_ possibly just a one-shot/two-shot/three-shot, for GG, in Zach's POV (1st person, for a change) and _then_ stop writing GG fanfiction and move onto HP.

OR

I write this one, the Zach POV short story, and then leave open the possibility for future ONESHOTS (_only_ oneshots!).

The reason I'm going to move myself to the HP fandom is because that's actually my main fandom, believe it or not. I mostly read HP fanfics, but I've put off writing them because I had been planning on this story (Brotherhood of I.C.) and the other big fic I've got going on right now (Counter Clockwise).

Anyways, the reason I bring this up guys is because I was wondering if it would be too much to ask for some **advice** on what to do here?

I don't want to get into another big story for GG (the Zach story), but on the other hand I do really want to try writing 1st person for him, because it sounds freakin' fun.

Also, if there were any HP fans reading, **would you read any of my HP stories**? The HP Fandom intimidates me, to be honest. I'm not sure I'm cut out as an author to write for it. It may sound silly, but Harry Potter is a _huge_ franchise, one that a lot of people take very seriously and get very defensive about. People can be _mean_ nad, more importantly, critical when it comes to messing around with /writing about HP.

**About Writing This Story**

I can't say that I particularly like writing this story. Sure, it's fun, but the fact of the matter is that I'm really not proud of the way my stories turn out. I think part of it is that all of them are in 3rd person, which is a challenge for me, and I'm not satisfied with the way I write 3rd person. In my opinion, 1st person is way easier, and I think if I started writing in 1st person (for at least a little while) I'd be much more satisfied with my work.

**About the Excerpts/File Thingies at the Beginning of Each Chapter**

If I'm being perfectly honest, these are what I look forward to writing the most. Every time I finish a chapter, I'm only excited to move onto the next one because it means I'll get to do another one of these.

**Random Facts About Them:**

I made up _all_ the names of the freshman, sophomore, junior and senior Blackthorne Boys.

I made up all the teachers (except for the ones mentioned in the books) AND the classes they teach. I didn't get any of them from Internet suggestions of anything. I actually had a lot of fun making them up. If you didn't see, for the classes I came up with things like: Chemical Warfare 01, Gun Making for Beginners, Psychology of Soviet Society, CIA (the History of), Norwegian Dialects II, Advanced Russian III, Metal Shop (though not the ordinary kind. The teacher I assigned this class, Mr. Arnett, is actually named after my seventh grade Wood Shop teacher), Islamic Religion Study (I hope I didn't offend anyone with this, because I didn't mean too, I promise), Accents of the World IV, Bombs 101, Advanced Cultures of the World, Advanced Quantum Physics I, Advanced Chemistry III, Mechanics I, Calculus II, and Inside NASA.

On the schedules, if anyone noticed, their students IDs are legit. Meaning, I didn't grab some random numbers off the top of my head. They either had 'GG' or 'BB', obviously for Gallagher Girl/ Blackthorne Boy, and then a three-digit number. For the girls it was 1 and then whatever number they were on the attendance list. For example: Cammie is GG 107, because she is seventh on the attendance list. But Tina Walters is GG 110, because she is tenth. Macey McHenry is GG 111, just FYI, because she was added to the list later, so she was last. The boys' ID #s are also three digit numbers. The first number for seniors is 4, the first digit for juniors is 3, for sophomores it's 2, for freshmen it's 1, for eight graders it's 5, and for seventh graders it's 6. Then the next number is their place on the attendance list as well. So Zach is BB 305.

Even though the Coach is named Keller Olsen, Olsen being his last name, everyone calls him Coach Keller, Keller being his first name.

Aleksei Ivanovski, the Chemical Warfare Instructor, is Dmitri (in the Junior class) and Vasily's (in the senior class) older brother. I had a lot of fun making these three characters up because I've actually lived most of my life in post-soviet countries, where people were named Andrei, and Dmitri, and Vasily, and Ivan, and Aleksei, and Vladomir, and Taras, and Mykola, and Daniel, and Kostya, etc. I'm one of those freaky people who's lived all over the world, who moves all the time, and who has never lived in the same place for more than three years on a continual basis (meaning, for example, I've lived seven years in the U.S., but not all at once. I've lived there for periods of one to two to three years, until it's accumulated to seven years. Basically I move at least once every three years). Anyways, the point is that I grew up surrounded by Post-Soviet/Russian culture, so I feel very connected to these three brothers.

Love,

Katie

**P.S. **

**Here's a **_**LITTLE KNOWN FACT **_**About This Story (meaning I've never told anyone until now):**

The prologue for this story (when Zach is 'initiated' into the Circle) was actually the first piece of fanfiction writing I ever did. After spending hours and hours reading Gallagher Girl fanfiction stories (_only_ GG fanfic stories, I might add) last summer, I was finally inspired to write that little piece.

Immediately after that (like literally only a couple of hours later), I wrote 'The Way to Blackthorne' (now called something else that I can't remember, and am to lazy to go check), which was written so poorly it makes me gag.

But anyways, when I wrote the 'prologue', I had no idea what I wanted to do with it.

I had also written a couple chapters of a story I was planning to write. It was Zach's POV (1st person), about him sneaking into Gallagher to see/break up with Cammie, even though he loves her. Then it switches to Cammie's POV, who catches Zach kissing Macey. Anyways, that fic was never finished, even though I liked it a lot. It was inspired by all the Macey/Zach stories that literally make me want to gag because I'm so against any Zach/Not Cammie pairing.

Anyways, at first, I was going to post the 'prologue' for this story and the few chapters I had written of the other story together and make a fic out of it, but then I kind of lost my muse and somehow, somewhere along the way, I decided to do _this_ story (that you're reading) instead.

I think what happened is, instead of doing two separate stories (the exchange fic I promised in the A/N in 'Back to Gallagher' and the one with this prologue and those angst chapters), I squashed the two together, and it morphed into 'The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan.'

Also, you should know that I've had _tons_ of GG Fanfic story ideas that I've never written down. I literally have two or three Word documents _full_ of little notes I've jotted down about potential stories. Like I said earlier, I'm probably not going to write any more big GG stories, but I'm willing to consider writing oneshots (some long and some short) based on all those story ideas that never made it into developed stories. I can't say when I'd write them, or even guarantee I will, but it sounds like a fun idea to me, and like something I would really, really enjoy doing. And who knows? One, or two, or maybe even three of them might end up as full-length stories, even though I'm not planning on it. Some of those ideas where such fun that just revisiting them to tell you about their existence is inspiring me. To just _write and write and write_.

Ohh! Maybe I can do a collection of GG oneshots! That'd be fun! It'd be like an album of all the ideas I had that I never developed!

….GASP! (I literally just did) What if I did a collection/album thingy of all the excerpts/files thingies I was talking about before (at the beginning of each chapter)? Now _that_ would be effing awesome!

**P.P.S.** I've just realized my Author's Note is over 5,000 words, and at least six pages long. The Author's Note alone is almost as long as my last chapter (which was a little over 7,000 words).

…I've really got to stop this madness.

But I mean, it's like my commentary. And it's the way I share all the behind the scenes stuff with you guys. Without it, you wouldn't get half the fun. And it's the kind of stuff I can't really put in the story. Like I can't tell you Cyllus Graves (one of the Blackthorne Underclassmen I made up) was named after my real life English teacher's son in the story.

But really, though. This is getting ridiculous, so I'm going to start trying to cut back.


	8. Uncle Joe?

**The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan**

**C**_h_A_**p**_t_E_**r**_ 7_

* * *

><p><span>A Note to Reviewers:<span>

Guys, there is no way to express how grateful I am for all the reviews, story alerts and story favorites! You make the writing worthwhile, and I can only apologize for not responding to each review like normal. Life just got in the way for a little while, and there's an explanation in the authors note at the bottom about my ridiculous absence and the details of why I have decided to continue writing this story and not give it up for adoption as I previously said I would. Thank you everyone! I love you guys!

* * *

><p><span>The Story So Far:<span>

Cammie and the Gallagher Girls arrived at Blackthorne, and all except Cammie were immediately welcomed by the boys. Tyler Hill took pity on Cammie and easily befriended her, but he was the only boy willing to. Zach Goode, another junior boy, was intrigued and confused by Cammie, who seems to know nothing of her father's involvement at Blackthorne, but only watched her from afar. There was immediate chemistry between Zach and Cammie, to Cammie's embarrassment and to Zach's amusement.

During dinner, the girls found out they would be sharing a bunker with the boys, much to their dismay, leading to a fight between Tina and Cammie.

In the middle of the night, the girls were surprised with Night Drills, a vigorous night-training program they will be graded on. The Night Drill instructor/sergeant, Beau, immediately singles out Cammie, just like the other boys did. Except, instead of singling her out to make her a social pariah, Beau singled her out because he is sexually attracted to her…in the creepiest way possible. [Rapist, much? Cammie thinks so.]

The next day, Cammie, Bex and Liz get a taste of morning life at Blackthorne. They even have to shower _with the boys_, in the communal shower room! Not to mention how much more obnoxious Zach gets!

During breakfast Xavier Gray and his gang disrespect Cammie, but she handles it beautifully, much to the admiration of Julien Walsh, one of the guards sent by Gallagher. The girls get their schedules and split up to go to class. On the way, Cammie and Tyler run into Wesley Hamon, the other young guard from Gallagher. Immediately, Tyler takes a liking to him.

Oh, and Grant is an idiot.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Uncle Joe?<strong>

**.~***~.**

* * *

><p><em>Dear Uncle Joe,<em>

_I can't say I'm not disappointed you and Dad aren't here for my birthday. You promised you would be, but Mom says you and Dad are working on something special—Top Secret. I guess I can't argue with government priority and confidentiality. _

_I've twelve today! Can you believe it? When you get back I'm expecting my birthday surprise, but I don't know how it will top last year's. Really, how _did_ you get the director of the CIA to sign a copy of _Gallagher Girls Unleashed: Silent and Deadly_? I'm pretty sure he isn't even cleared to know that book exists. I'm beginning to suspect the use of memory tea was involved…? _

_Anyways, I can't wait until you and Dad are home again. Tell him I love him and I miss him, and that I've cracked all ten of the NASA codes he left me in case I got bored. They were disappointingly easy. And did you know the Hubble Telescope crashed onto Mars _years_ ago? All that footage they've been releasing over the last decade is at _least_ sixty years old. The new stuff from their new telescope is one hundred percent confidential to anyone below a level eleven government clearance. Oh, and anyone who can crack the code._

_Love always,_

_Cammie._

_P.S. Aunt Abby misses you, but she made me _swear_ not to say anything. Too bad I'm a spy, and my word means next to nothing._

* * *

><p><em>Dear Uncle Joe,<em>

_You still aren't back, and I'm starting to get suspicious! My birthday surprise must be really good, if it's keeping you away for so long. I'm expecting something super awesome since it's been three whole weeks since my actual birthday!_

_Love You!_

_Cammie_

_Dear Uncle Joe,_

_I'm starting to get worried. Why haven't you replied to any of my letters? It's been months since you and Dad left. Why aren't you back yet? Mom says I should stop asking questions before I get into trouble, but of course I won't. Please tell me what's going on…_

_Love, _

_Cammie_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Uncle Joe,<em>

_It's been a whole year since I wrote you last. I've given up on you coming home. Besides, no one will tell me where you are…where Dad is. Why are you doing this? Why is this happening? I miss you and Dad so much. Why did you leave me? Where are you?_

_Cammie_

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

_Blackthorne Institute for Boys_

_Room 101_

_Advanced Russian III_

"Hello, hello, hello! Please take your seats." Dr Steve cheered merrily as the boys (mostly seniors and juniors, with a couple of sophomores mixed in), Cammie and Mick filed into the room. Cammie and Mick sat together at one of the front desks. "Welcome to Advanced Russian III!"

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

_Blackthorne Institute for Boys_

_Room 113_

_Norwegian Dialects II_

"Psst! Tyler!_"_

Something soft bounced off of the back of Tyler's head. He frowned and turned around, spotting a ball of paper on the floor by his chair.

"Psst!"

Tyler looked up and raised an eyebrow at his brother, Scott, who sat snickering with his friends Shiloh, Ian and Henry. "What?"

"We were thinking—"

"Always dangerous when you're involved, Scott," Tyler quipped, rolling his eyes. His brother scowled.

"Shut up, tool! Anyways, how about you introduce us to your new friend at lunch? Cammie Morgan," Scott said, wiggling his eyebrows. His friends guffawed. "Wouldn't mind getting to know the great Matt Morgan's daughter, if you know what I mean. See what kinds of…_skills_ she's keeping a secret."

Tyler's hands clenched and his eyes betrayed his fury. He worked to control his voice. "Shut up about Cammie. You have no idea what you're talking about."

Scott stopped laughing and glared at his younger brother. "Oh, and you do? You've never even been with a girl before." He scoffed. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were—what's the phrase—_batting for the other team_."

Tyler's fist slammed down onto his desk, making his brother jump and the smirk drop from his face. "I said shut _up_! Just stay away from Cammie, and leave me the hell alone!" Tyler spun around forcefully in his chair, and his hands remained clenched on his desk.

"Tyler…" Scott trailed off, his face slowly falling. "I didn't mean—"

"Hey, he said leave him alone." Zach's furious voice cut in, surprising Tyler, who hadn't noticed him listening in from a table over.

Scott scowled. "Listen, I wasn't talking to you, Goode. I'm trying to have a conversation with my brother."

"A conversation he obviously wants no part in," Zach shot back.

"Hey, maybe you should back off!" Scott was growing angrier and angrier at every passing word.

"Maybe _you_ should learn to respect your brother!"

"Oi! This isn't even any of your business!"

"Whatever, dude," Zach said, shaking his head. He turned to Tyler and gave him a small nod, which Tyler returned with a small, thankful smile. Their eyes met and a moment of understanding passed between them.

For the rest of the lesson, Tyler ignored his brother's regretful apologies.

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

_Blackthorne Institute for Boys_

_Room 115_

_Accents of the World IV_

"Now say it with me, please. I want you all to imitate my accent as closely as possible," Professor Hamilton said.

He pursed his lips and stuck his tongue out: "I vwould like to buy a haamburgsdlkjsdfer."

Bex stared. "Is this a bloody joke?"

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

_Blackthorne Institute for Boys_

_Cafeteria_

_Lunch_

"Hey guys," Tyler said, as he plopped into the seat next to Grant, who sent a look saying "_dafuck is he doing?_" towards Zach and Jonas, who sat across the table.

"Hey, dude," Zach said, sending a half nod at the brown haired boy, while sticking a carrot in his mouth. At Grant's still confused look, Zach raised an eyebrow and said, "I asked Tyler to sit over here today. Thought it'd be a good idea to get to know him a little bit better, you know, after having gone to school with him for the past five years." Zach didn't meet anyone's eye as he said this, and Grant couldn't help but suspect that his friend had ulterior motives. Perhaps ulterior motives that wore a plaid skirt.

Before he could question the boy, Bex pranced into the room and sat herself merrily on his other side. "Hello, boys," she said with a saucy wink. Grant would have replied, but his mouth seemed to have sort of…melted. "Oh, Liz is on her way, by the way," Bex said to Jonas, who blushed. "She'll be dying to talk to you, and I'm sure you'll be the only one willing to listen to her commentary on the radio-signal, hand-held clock bomb she built in Mechanics today," she went on with a roll of her eyes. "I swear—that girl is a walking hazard! I'll tell you what boys, if there was ever a girl to be scared of, she was born in the form of Elizabeth Sutton."

Zach snorted. "Oh really? _That_ Liz Sutton," he asked sarcastically, nodding to Liz, who had just entered the cafeteria and managed to somehow knock over gigantic Dr Steve with her petite body, sending his lunch tray flying. Jonas stood up immediately and ran over to help the flustered girl, who was apologizing so profusely she was slipping in and out of Mandarin Chinese, which, as any Gallagher Girl could tell you, was what happened when Liz was close to crying.

"Don't let looks deceive you, Zachary Goode," Bex said, her finger flying. "That girl is dangerous."

"As dangerous as Ms Morgan," Zach asked, with a suggestive wiggle of his brow. Tyler choked on his drink, and Bex's eyes narrowed.

"Now you listen here, Zachary Goode! I don't know who you think you are—who _any_ of you think you are—but don't you mess with Cam! Or else I'll mess with you!"

"Whoa there!" Zach said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "Relax, I didn't mean anything by it."

"Anything by what?" Cammie's voice came from behind Zach, who instantly froze up.

"Er, nothing," he said, pulling at this collar. He wouldn't meet her eyes as she lowered herself into the seat next to him and diagonal from Tyler.

"Hey, Tyler," she said, smiling.

"Hey, Cam," he said, a sense of familiarity between the two evident. "How were classes?"

"Pretty good. I really liked Chemical Warfare."

Bex leaned over conspiratorially at this and said, "That was my favorite. Mr. Ivanovski was H-O-T!" Grant scowled at that, and Cammie giggled. "Besides, Accents of the World was a joke."

"Ah, yes," Zach drawled sarcastically, smirking, "Mr. Hamilton. Always a favorite." Grant snorted.

While they were discussing the pros and cons of nuclear warfare in times of economic crisis, the rest of the junior class filed in, distributing themselves around the table in small groups.

The group closest to Cammie didn't bother with pretending that they weren't listening in on the conversation, and the boys took turns staring at Cam with curious, guarded expressions. Eventually Cammie became unnerved, and stopped interacting with the group. Zach noticed and frowned at his classmates, and caught Mario's eye the next time he turned to stare at Cammie. His eyes sent a clear signal to steer clear, which the other boy promptly ignored.

"Hey, Cammie, right?" Mario said as he scooted closer to the Gallagher girl.

"Um, yeah," she said, hesitantly. She wondered if he was only getting closer to look at her like an animal at the zoo.

"So, some of us were wondering…" Mario started, scratching his neck and giving her a tight half-smile. Zach and the other boys tensed, sensing what was coming. Mario ignored his classmates and plowed on, paying no attention to the warning glares Zach and Grant were sending his way. "Are you really Matt Morgan's daughter?"

Cammie's fork dropped out of her hand, and the smile that had started to work it's way up her face fell immediately. She felt as if all the air had been knocked out of her. Her breathing coming fast, she snapped: "How do you my dad's name? Is this some kind of joke? Because it isn't very funny."

"No—I—"Mario's eyes widened at her reaction and he moved back on the bench.

Cammie's breaths started coming in shallow gasps, and she could feel her body start to go into panic mode.

"Holy shit, is she okay?" Grant asked.

"Cammie?" Bex asked.

Abruptly, Cam stood up from the bench, brushing off Bex's worried hold on her hand, and pushed her way out of the cafeteria, ignoring the wide-eyed stares of the Blackthorne boys following her out.

Bex stared at the door and raised herself half out of her chair. "I think I should go make sure she's okay…"

"No," Liz said, "I'll go. I can at least get her to the bunker before it starts raining." The petite blonde quickly darted from the lunchroom after her friend, who had wandered out just as a particularly nasty rainstorm rolled in.

"Bex," Zach said, catching the girl who still didn't lower herself back into her seat's attention. "What just happened?"

Bex grimaced at the emerald-eyed boy. "I don't think it's really my place to say what's going on with Cammie." All the boys were listening. "Cam's dad…well, he—I just—I'm sorry, I can't say. Listen, I have to go check on her." Bex sent Zach an apologetic look as she shouldered her bag, along with Cammie's and Liz's.

Bex turned to leave, but at the last moment turned back. "Please don't mention Cammie's dad to her," she said, her face unreadable. "She gets panic attacks…" Then Bex ran out after Liz and Cammie.

"Whoa, dude. Talk about an over reaction," Logan muttered from down the table. Zach heard him and shot him a death glare, which shut him up quickly.

Zach turned back to Jonas, Grant and Tyler, who were exchanging raised eyebrows. "Do you think she's okay?" he asked them. No one replied, but Tyler shrugged his shoulders. Zach sighed. Cammie Morgan just got a whole lot more complicated.

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

"Cammie!"

Cammie heard her name being called from behind her as she walked on her own to Cove. Ops. She had just come from the bathroom, after Bex and Liz had found her crying in a toilet stall. After crying on her friends' shoulders, and many assurances that she was fine and capable of making it to class herself, she had sent Liz and Bex on to class ahead of her and stayed behind to wash her face and blow her nose.

Now, feeling slightly refreshed, if not a little gross, she plastered a fake smile on her face as she turned around to greet Zachary Goode, who had jogged up behind her and called her name multiple times.

"Hey there, Gallagher Girl," he said with a smirk, his green eyes dancing. "Feeling better?"

The smile dropped from Cam's face as she abruptly remembered what a jerk this boy was. "Much, thank you," she said tightly. She spun back around on her heel and marched off towards Cove. Ops., her shoulders tight. Much to her aggravation, Zach's long legs made it possible for him to easily keep stride with her determined gait.

"So listen, Gallagher Girl," Zach said, a laugh in his voice. "Me and some of the other guys were wondering—"

"Don't even start, Zachary Goode!" Cammie said sharply, stopping suddenly and spinning to point her finger in his amused face.

"You haven't even heard what I'm going to say yet," Zach laughed.

"Oh, I know exactly where this is headed. And I'm not going to talk about it with you," Cammie huffed. Once again, she turned and continued toward class, her angry footsteps kicking up the dusty gravel.

"I was just going to ask you about what happened in the cafeteria," Zach said slowly, now all the laughter gone from his voice. His sudden change in demeanor had Cammie glancing up at his face as she walked, and she was startled to notice his penetrating gaze trained on her face.

She sighed. "I don't want to talk about it with you, Zach."

The boy remained silent for a moment before saying quietly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made a joke out of it."

Needless to say, Cammie was incredibly shocked by his apology, for the simple reason that he didn't seem like the type of boy who would ever apologize to anyone. But then again, she didn't know a lot about boys to begin with. Well, except for one certain boy in particular, but she shook herself as her thoughts turned to that taboo subject.

The two operatives arrived at another low-to-the-ground bunker-type trailer, just as the rain began to descend heavily. They quickly ascended the stairs, eager to stay dry, and Zach graciously held open the door for Cammie to enter ahead of him. Cammie didn't miss the smirk on his face the entire time, though, and she turned her head up to glare and roll her eyes at him as she entered.

Because of Zach's distraction, Cammie didn't notice the older man leaning against the wall at the front of the classroom until she was half way to one of the open desks, Zach's broad form clse behind her. When she did raise her eyes to the teacher, she stopped abruptly, and for the second time that day all the air went out of her.

"_Uncle Joe?_"

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

The gasp came out as a strangled choke, and Cammie felt all the strength leave her legs. She began to fall against the desk, her disbelieving eyes never leaving the man staring at her unblinkingly, but Zach's reflexes kicked in and he grabbed her arm to hold her up, most of her weight falling against his chest and abdomen.

Cammie couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't even think straight. All that was going through her mind was that it couldn't be him. This man in front of her could not possibly be the man who left her twelve-year-old self that summer's day. This couldn't be the man whose car she had run after, laughing and waving, as it pulled out of the long drive. Who had grinned at her in the mirrors. Who she had written almost everyday for two years after he left. Who never once wrote back. Who, for all intents and purposes, had disappeared off the face of the planet, taking her father with him.

Joe Solomon stared at the girl—no, woman—in front of him. She was so...grown up. In the back of his mind, he supposed he had never been able to let go of the image of her at twelve, with braids down her back and braces. When he heard she would be coming he had half expected that little girl to walk into his classroom. Not this teenage girl who looked so much like her father it took his breath away.

"Cammie?" he said hesitantly, realizing she hadn't said anything other than his name. "Cammie, it's me." He took a step closer. Then another, but the girl still didn't move. "Cam?" he whispered. It was just he and she now. Just him and his goddaughter, the baby girl he had watched grow up before—well, before he and Matt came to Blackthorne. Joe gulped. And finally he reached her.

Up close she was so beautiful, just like her mother. His hand came to her face, and he squinted as if he were trying to find that little girl somewhere behind her face. A stunner. But he could she her father in the way her eyes stared at him wide-eyed and in the set of her mouth. And he had heard so much! From the trustees and teachers who passed on stories of her adventures from Rachel, and from those who had been at dinner the night before. He couldn't help the pride swelling in his breast when he heard that she was a pavement artist. As good as her father, they said. He knew Matt would have beamed with happiness if he were there.

Joe gulped again, and reached out hesitatingly. He didn't look at the shocked boys and girls who came for class. It was just him and this girl who he had missed like a hand that had been cut off.

His hand grazed her arm, and her entire body shuddered. Still she didn't move, though. "Cammie," he whispered. "Cammie, it's me. It's your Uncle Joe."

And just like that, Cammie came to. Her body stood ramrod straight and her eyes narrowed. And then suddenly, her hand came flying and smacked Joe right across the face.

Joe's head turned at the impact, and he felt his eyes widen involuntarily. He put his hand to his cheek and spun his head back around to face Cammie.

There were tears in her eyes and she was gulping, not seeming to get enough air to speak. The entire room stared at her in shock, until finally she spun on her heel, pushed past Zach, and fled the room.

Joe stood in shocked silence, looking after her. Finally he came to his senses. He grabbed his coat from his desk chair and bolted out of the room after Cammie, into the rain.

A beat passed and the entire junior Cove. Ops. class stared at each other in stunned silence.

And then Grant said: "Does this mean class is dismissed?"

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

"Cammie! Cammie, wait!"

Cammie heard Joe calling after her, but she didn't slow down. She ran blindly through the heavy rain, letting her feet guide her all the way across campus, to the training field.

Just as she reached the field, a strong hand gripped her arm.

She spun around, her fist flying back in preparation to punch her uncle, but stopped short when she realized the hand on her arm was not Joe Solomon. It was Beau Travers, the creepy night drill sergeant.

Cammie's hair was plastered to her face, and she was out of breath from running. At the sight of Beau she groaned inwardly, a glance over his shoulder telling her that Uncle Joe was closing in on her too. As she turned her attention back to Beau, she realized that his leery gaze was trained on her chest, and that his grip was tightening on her arm. She realized suddenly that the rain had made her white blouse see through, and that it had molded to her body, giving her night drill instructor a good look at her red lacy bra beneath (she cursed Macey for insisting that they only pack _sexy_ underwear). Cammie quickly yanked her forearm from the dark-skinned man's grasp and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What are you doing here?" she said, almost aggressively.

Beau held up his hands in mock surrender, a smirk spreading across his face. "I saw you running around out her so I…"

"You followed me?"

"Well, when you put it that way, if doesn't sound nearly as nice," he laughed. Despite his seemingly good mood, there was a dark look in his eye Cammie still didn't trust.

"Listen," Cammie said, shaking her head, "I don't think it's a great idea for you to be out here with me—"

"Cammie," Beau cut her off with a whisper and a finger to her lips. "I really like you, and I want to get to know you better." He stepped closer and his hand closed around her hand again.

She tried to step back but she wouldn't let him. "Beau—"

"I want to get to know you as a boy to a girl, not a teacher to a student," he continued, pulling her towards him further.

"Beau, please, don't!" Now she was beginning to panic a little. She could feel his hand bruising her arm.

"Cammie, stop struggling," he said as she twisted in his grasp again, getting aggravated.

"No! Let go of me!"

"No!"

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing Travers?"

Suddenly Beau's hand was ripped off her arm and he was pulled back, and furious Joe Solomon standing over him.

"Sir!" Beau's eyes widened with panic and he immediately took a step back. He licked his lips. "I was just—just telling Ms. Morgan that she should go in. She'll catch a cold." His eyes flickered to Cammie's, but she was glaring daggers at him.

"Get out of my sight, Travers," Solomon growled. "If I see you lay a hand on her again—or any of these girls—I'll have you reported to the trustees, and to the CIA." Beau gulped. "Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes sir!" Beau's shoulders were rigid as he stumbled back from Solomon and made his way back inside, his pride stripped.

Cammie stood gasping in the rain, watching him go. Finally, when she couldn't see him through the rain any more, she turned to her uncle, who was staring at her like he'd never seen her before.

"Cammie…" he sighed. He looked down at his feet for a few moments, collecting his thoughts. When he looked back up at her, he sighed again. "I understand that you're angry at me Cam," he said desolately. "But, I need you to understand—"

"Why didn't you ever write me back?" Cammie cut him off, her fists still crossed across her chest.

"What?" Joe asked, his train of thought broken.

"Why didn't you ever write me back?" Cammie repeated robotically.

"I…" Joe squinted at her through the rain. "There were a lot of…factors that were involved, Cammie. You have to understand that. Your dad and I were gone for longer than we meant to be, and after that…it had been so long. It felt…_wrong_ disrupting your life like we would have been. Stepping back in like that wasn't fair to you. And it wouldn't have been safe."

"And my dad?"

"It wasn't over for him that easily. It took us a couple of years to get done what we did, but he wasn't ever truly finished. He had some lose ends to tie up."

"Is that when he went missing?" Cammie wouldn't meet Joe's eyes.

Joe sighed. "Yes…Yes."

Cammie took a shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. She was quiet long enough for Joe to get worried, and he was just about to say something when she mumbled just loud enough for him to hear: "I never got my birthday surprise."

Slowly, a smile spread across Joe Solomon's face. "Come on, kid. I've got it inside, and we better get out of this rain or you'll be really sick."

Cammie nodded, and didn't shove him off when he draped his coat over her shoulders and wrapped his arm around her shivering form. Until that moment she hadn't realized how cold she had felt.

Cammie let Joe Solomon lead her back to the Junior bunker, where she spent the rest of the day in her dad's old pajamas, catching up with the godfather, playing hooky on the first day of classes, and drinking chicken noodle soup. And that evening, when he left for dinner duty, she embraced him, tears leaking into his shirt. "I missed you, Uncle Joe," she whispered, not realizing he had slipped a slim chain around her wrist until he squeezed her hand and wished her a happy birthday.

When the rest of the junior class ambled in, they found Cammie Morgan asleep in her bed, the nightmares leaving her at peace for the first time in four years.

* * *

><p><span>Next Chapter Preview:<span>

_Cammie and the boys start to understand each other, and Tyler admits something personal to her. _

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

Hi guys! It's been a _long_ time! Like, ridiculously long. And I am SO, SO, SO sorry. You have no idea. I literally cringe thinking about it.

I guess I have a lot of explaining to do.

First of all, the reason I've been MIA for so long is that life seriously got in the way. It took up all my time, and took absolute precedence. I'm super sorry that I haven't made the time for this story that I should have, and I really did miss all of you, and just writing in general.

Second, I know that last time we spoke I announced that I would be putting this story up for adoption. Well, obviously, I decided not to after all. I thought about for a very long time guys, and I realized at the last minute that I really just _can't_. So I'm incredibly sorry for the confusion and the anticipation and all that. And I'm even sorrier to the people who reviewed and PMed me about taking over this story. I can't apologize to all of you enough. I am literally the worst person at correspondence ever, because I didn't even email any of you back, and I feel like a bitch for it. Thank you to all of you for being interested, and I really did like all your stories very much. I'm just so sorry that I never got back to you, and that I left you hanging on like this for so long. And then I just decided I was going to write the story myself. That was seriously a douche move on my part. So, again, I'm so, so sorry to all of you, and I hope you can forgive me!

Anyways guys, it's great to be back! I can't wait to get this story rolling!

Love Always,

Katie


	9. Madame Dabney Has Arrived

**The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan**

**C**_h_A_**p**_t_E_**r**_ 8_

* * *

><p><span>The Story So Far:<span>

Cammie and the Gallagher Girls arrived at Blackthorne, and all except Cammie were immediately welcomed by the boys. Tyler Hill took pity on Cammie and easily befriended her, but he was the only boy willing to. Zach Goode, another junior boy, was intrigued and confused by Cammie, who seems to know nothing of her father's involvement at Blackthorne, but only watched her from afar. There was immediate chemistry between Zach and Cammie, to Cammie's embarrassment and to Zach's amusement.

During dinner, the girls found out they would be sharing a bunker with the boys, much to their dismay, leading to a fight between Tina and Cammie.

In the middle of the night, the girls were surprised with Night Drills, a vigorous night-training program they will be graded on. The Night Drill instructor/sergeant, Beau, immediately singles out Cammie, just like the other boys did. Except, instead of singling her out to make her a social pariah, Beau singled her out because he is sexually attracted to her…in the creepiest way possible. [Rapist, much? Cammie thinks so.]

The next day, Cammie, Bex and Liz get a taste of morning life at Blackthorne. They even have to shower _with the boys_, in the communal shower room! Not to mention how much more obnoxious Zach gets!

During breakfast Xavier Gray and his gang disrespect Cammie, but she handles it beautifully, much to the admiration of Julien Walsh, one of the guards sent by Gallagher. The girls get their schedules and split up to go to class. On the way, Cammie and Tyler run into Wesley Hamon, the other young guard from Gallagher. Immediately, Tyler takes a liking to him.

After morning classes, Cammie suffered from a panic attack at lunch induced by the mention of her father by Mario. She runs out, her friends following, leaving more questions in the boys' minds than answers.

The she is shocked again when she arrives at Cove. Ops and sees her long-lost godfather/uncle, Joe Solomon. She is shocked and angry at first, and runs away. She ends up caught in the rain with Beau Travers, who comes shockingly close to forcing himself on her. Before he has the chance to cross the line, however, Solomon arrives, having run out of class after Cammie. He warns Beau off of the Gallagher girls and he and Cammie come face-to-face in the rain. A shouting match has them resolving the tension between them, and they spend the rest of the day playing hooky and catching up in the junior bunker.

Oh, and Grant is an idiot.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight: Madame Dabney Has Arrived<strong>

* * *

><p>Pages taken from the journal of Matthew Andrew Morgan, CIA<p>

.~***~.

_June 19_

_Journal, _

_What do I do now? It feels like that question's been chasing me around all week, always bouncing around in the back of my head. I just can't get away from it. Blackthorne is over, but my job isn't done yet. I know there is really only one option, then. But can I accept it?_

_M. A. M._

_.~***~.  
><em>

_June 28_

_Dear Journal,_

_I know what I have to do now. Like there was ever any choice. I can't say I'm happy, but then again, who am I to be happy in this line of work?_

_M. A. M._

_.~***~.  
><em>

_July 5_

_Journal,_

_I saw Cammie today. She didn't know it, but I was there at the Fourth of July parade, watching her from the crowd. What happened to my little girl? She's a young woman now, so tall and beautiful, like her mother. I think I must have teared up, thinking that that moment would be the last time I saw my baby for a very long time, because suddenly I lost track of her. What can I say? My daughter, the pavement artist. I didn't find her for seven and a half minutes of panic. When I did, she was buying an ice cream cone—one scoop of vanilla, one scoop of strawberry, with crushed M&Ms sprinkled on top. I laughed. I miss my baby, Journal. _

_M. A. M._

_.~***~.  
><em>

_July 7_

_Dear Journal,_

_Today's my last day. I still haven't told Joe I'm leaving, and I don't think I will. It will be better for everyone if I just disappear. If I don't come back, though, I've hidden you in an alcove at Joe's summer place. He doesn't know it, but I've been stashing stuff there for years. _

_To be honest, I thought about destroying you. Lighting you on fire in the woods or throwing you into the lake. For some reason though, I just couldn't stand the thought of no one every knowing. Knowing what happened to me. Knowing who I was. Knowing who I loved. _

_Maybe in a hundred years someone will find you, long after you can do any damage. Then they'll know our story, and they'll pass you on to later generations. Just memories preserved on old paper. But until then, I need you to stay safe and hidden. Cammie and Rachel can never know. Especially Cammie. Rachel would understand why I had to do it. But to my baby girl…it isn't fair to Cammie for her to think that something else in my life took precedence over her and her mom, because that isn't true. Sometimes you just have to do things in your life that you don't want to do to, protect the things and the people you care about. I hope one day, even if I'm gone for good, Cammie will understand that this was one of those times, and that I always chose her first. _

_If something should happen to me, I don't want them to read this and ever think that I wanted it to be this way. If they never know, then they never have to try to understand why I had to do what I did, why I had to leave. You see, Journal, I love them. So, so much. And I just can't stand the thought of them thinking I ever wanted to leave._

_Cammie, I'm so, so sorry. I love you._

_Goodbye._

_M. A. M._

* * *

><p>.~***~.<p>

_Blackthorne Institute for Boys_

_Cafeteria_

_Breakfast_

"Hey, Cammie," Mick greeted with a smile as the other girl bit into an apple turnover.

Cammie smiled back, swallowed, and then said, "Hey, Mick."

"So, some of us were wondering," Mick said, "what was up with you and Mr. Solomon yesterday? I've never seen you act that way, and then you didn't come back to classes!"

Cammie swallowed nervously, wondering how to explain. The entire junior table was once again giving her their attention, all the boys and girls leaning forward. Only Bex and Liz already knew, and they glared at their peers for their prying.

"Um," Cammie started. "He's actually my godfather." A few of the girls' mouths fell open, and the boys exchanged looks of mild surprise and interest. "I just haven't seen him in a few years," Cammie went on, "and I was really surprised to see him here. I haven't spoken to him since I turned twelve."

"Oh," Mick said, still surprised. "You're glad to see him, though, right?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," Cammie said, nodding and smiling. "We had a few things to talk about, and now that everything is sorted out it's really great to have him back."

"Wow, that's really great Cammie," Eva said.

"Yeah, we're all really happy for you," Kim added.

Cammie grinned at her sisters, and just ignored the raised eyebrows and meaningful glances of the boys. She had just about had it with their crap.

"Is Joe Solomon really your godfather, Gallagher Girl?" Zach asked when Cammie turned away from their peers and towards the group she was sitting with.

"Yep," Cammie said, popping the P and taking another bite of her breakfast. After last night, she was in a really great mood, and she wasn't going to let anyone ruin it for her.

"That's a real coincidence," Tyler commented. "Running into him here of all places, I mean."

"Yeah, it is really strange." Cammie agreed. "We talked about it last night, but he told me that the reason he came here is classified."

Zach and Tyler shared a look. "Yeah, classified…" Zach said, not looking at her. Cammie frowned a little, but decided to let it go for now.

"Attention, boys and girls," Dr. Steve said from the podium. "I have few exciting announcements!"

Everyone went silent and gave the headmaster their attention.

"First of all, I am happy to announce that, after much discussion with the boards of trustees of both Gallagher and Blackthorne, I have obtained permission to allow the entire student body to have an entire day to themselves to spend in Belfast!"

The entire cafeteria—well, the boys—whooped and hollered at that. The girls clapped and smiled demurely.

"Quiet—quiet please," Dr. Steve gestured while smiling.

When the room was quiet again he continued. "And second, I am very, _very_ excited to present to you a group of women our young ladies know very well, and women our young gentlemen will hopefully also get to know in the coming weeks.

Cammie raised her eyebrows at this, and shared a wondering look with Bex and Liz. "I wonder who he means," Liz leaned in and whispered. She leaned back out when Dr. Steve spoke again.

"It is with great honor that I present to you," Dr. Steve said, "Gallagher Academy's own Culture and Assimilation teacher—"

"No," Cammie and Bex said hoarsely and simultaneously, sharing horrified looks.

"—Madame Josephine Dabney!"

The doors burst open the minute the words left Dr. Steve's mouth, and Madame Dabney herself glided in the room, looking like Meryl Streep and wearing a large feather boa draped around her shoulders. The smell of her perfume drifted behind her (Zach tried to cover his coughs by clearing his throat) as she approached to podium in a regal march. As she passed the junior table, she winked at the Gallagher Girls, making Courtney and Kim giggle behind their hands.

As she came to the podium, Dr. Steve stepped down to greet her. He bowed low and kissed her hand, which she bestowed to him with a sense of royalty and dignity. "My lady, enchanté!"

"Oh my," Madame Dabney said, giggling girlishly. "The pleasure is all mine, monsieur. She looked out at the tables watching her (most of them with raised eyebrows and looks of disbelief). "What a lovely school you have, Dr. Sanders—"

"Please, call me Dr. Steve!"

"—Dr. Steve. Such handsome young gentlemen!"

"Yes, yes. And it is such a pleasure to have you stay with us for this brief visit!"

Dr. Steve turned back to the podium then and Madame Dabney took a seat at the teacher's table. "The lovely Madame Dabney will be staying with us for the next week," he said. "She has kindly agreed to work with the entire student body during regular Physical Activity classes, and will be teaching you all the art of…dance!"

There was a considerably difference in the size of the boys and girls' eyes after Dr. Steve said this.

"She came all the way here to teach us to _dance_," Bex said in disbelief. Cammie just groaned.

"This is going to be hell," Grant said, grimacing.

"Now, before I let you all go back to your meal," Dr. Steve said, "I hope you all noticed that I said there was a _group _of wom_en_ coming, not a single woman." The young spies stared back at him, some looking as if they had been about to ask, and some looking ashamed at not having realized.

"And so, it is again with great honor that I present to you…"

"Who do you think it is, Cam?" Liz asked.

"No idea," Cammie whispered, looking to stare at the doors with the rest of the student body.

"Agent Abigail Cameron of the CIA, and the Headmistress of Gallagher Academy for Young Women herself, Rachel Morgan!"

Cammie's jaw dropped about seven miles, and some of the other girls gasped. Then the doors swung open, revealing two of the most beautiful, highly trained spies Blackthorne would ever know on the other side of the door.

.~***~.

"_Mom? _Aunt_ Abbey?"_ Cammie's shocked voice sounded extremely loud in the silent room, bouncing off the walls.

"Hey-a Kiddo," Rachel Morgan said as she walked in confidently, her sister right behind her.

The room was still silent, and the Blackthorne boys looked like their eyes were about to pop out of their heads as they followed every move the two women made.

Rachel and Abbey stopped at Cammie's seat, and held out their arms with expectant expressions. Cammie grinned and hopped up from her place at the table to hug her mom and aunt.

"How've you been, Squirt?" Abbey said, ruffling Cammie's hair.

"Alright. How are you, though? The last time I saw you you were getting on a plane to Buenos Aires."

Abbey laughed. "Ah, Buenos Aires. Good times. And a hell of a piece of cake."

Cammie grinned. "I missed you guys!"

"It's great to see you to, Cam. Sunday night dinners just aren't the same anymore," Rachel said, smiling happily at her daughter.

"Say, have you grown, Squirt?" Abbey said, squinting at her niece. "Last time I saw you I'm pretty sure you were two inches shorter."

"Two and a half inches," Cam corrected, grinning.

"Better slow down there, Kiddo, or soon you'll be taller than both of us."

The three Cameron girls spoke without giving any attention to the entire room of people listening to their conversation.

Once Cammie was sitting once again, though, Abbey moved to the teacher's table (winking at Joe Solomon as she went, who looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Miss me, Joe," she said) and Rachel moved to take Dr. Steve's place at the podium.

"It is an honor and a privilege to be here," Rachel started, looking around the room. Everyone felt as if she were speaking directly to him or her. "I am extremely proud of everyone sitting here today, and I hope that this exchange is the start of many new friendships and relationships. I can only say that a spy's greatest asset is his or her friends, and that the purpose of this exchange has and always been to acknowledge this fact and give each and every one of you an advantage. That being said, now is a time to get to know each other and to form alliances. I, along with Madame Dabney and Agent Cameron, will be here for the week, and we are happy to answer any questions any of you might have about who we are, what we do, and why we're here." Rachel smiled then, and Cammie thought about half of the males in the room actually _swooned_. "And now, I'm going to go sit down and let everyone get back to their delicious meals. Have a good day, boys and girls."

.~***~.

"Cammie, was that really your mom?" Tyler gushed as they left the cafeteria. All through breakfast boys had been looking at her even more, except now they were also looking at her mom and aunt. Cammie had a sneaking suspicion it was all for a different reason now though. Mostly because Tyler was the eleventh boy to mention her mom to her in the past 3 and a half minutes.

"Yes, Tyler, she really is," Cammie said, with a playful roll of her eyes.

"She's _hot_," Tyler said appreciatively.

"She's not just hot," Grant said, jogging up, "she's _smoking_. Holy hell, Morgan," he said, eying her admiringly, "Here's for hoping you look like her in twenty years."

Zach and Bex glared at Grant, who immediately made an excuse to run off.

"That boy…" Bex growled.

"Just ignore him," Jonas said. "He's harmless."

"Unless you have to fight him in Physical Activity," Zach laughed. "He's got one hell of a punch."

"With all that muscle," Bex said, "I'm not surprised." A competitive glint entered her eye. "But I could take him."

"Oh really, Baxter?" Zach said with a snort.

Bex just nodded and said, "Any day."

"Well see," Zach laughed, shaking his head.

Then the group dispersed to go to their morning classes. As she walked away, Cammie could feel a green-eyed gaze on her back, but she refused to let herself look back.

.~***~.

_Blackthorne Institute for Boys_

_Junior Bunker_

_Lunch_

Cammie had just left her Metal Shop class, and returned to the Junior bunker before planning to head back to the cafeteria to meet Bex and Liz for lunch. As she approached the bunker though, she heard a crash come from inside. She immediately tensed up.

As silently as the gravel would allow, Cammie edged up to the single window looking into the dark room. What she saw surprised her. Inside, Tyler sat on his bed, his head in his hands and broken glass littering the floor at his feet.

Her eyes wide, Cammie silently but quickly flew through the door, shutting it behind her. Hearing her, Tyler's head snapped up in panic.

Cammie gasped then. Tyler's palms were coated in blood, and it had left red marks all over his face!

"Tyler," she whispered, horrified. "What's wrong, what happened?" She rushed to him then, and took his hands in her own. He didn't say anything as she inspected his palms, just stared at her in stony silence.

She looked up at him, but seeing his face, decided not to press him for answers just yet. Instead, she went into the small bathroom in the bunker and dampened the hand towel. She brought it back to her new friend and started dabbing his hands tenderly. Cammie worked on cleaning him up for the next few minutes, rinsing the cuts on his hands and bandaging them. Then she quickly got rid of the glass on the floor (previously the small lamp sitting on Tyler's bedside table), all without speaking to the exhausted looking boy on the bed.

When she had finished, she sat down on the bed next to her friend. Neither said anything for awhile, until Tyler said, "It was Scott."

Cammie frowned. "Who?"

"My brother. Scott. He—He just…"

Cammie looked up at Tyler, who was staring at the wall, seemingly in a daze. "You can talk to me about anything, Tyler," she said, laying a hand on his. Immediately, his fingers engulfed hers in a tight grip.

Tyler closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "He can just be so cruel," he whispered.

"What did he say to you?" Cammie asked softly.

Tyler swallowed audibly. "He didn't mean to. He had no idea…" Tyler's words sounded desperate and broken.

"Tyler, what did Scott say to you?" Cam repeated.

"He called me names…said I was—said I wasn't normal. That I was—" Tyler's voice broke, and the next word came out in a chocked sob. "—gay."

Cammie didn't say anything for a long time. She just watched Tyler, who's eyes were tearing up and who wouldn't look her in the eye.

Finally, she said, softly, gently, "Are you, Tyler?"

Then Tyler's tears fell and he nodded slowly. "_Yes_."

"Oh, Tyler," Cam whispered, and put her arms around the crying boy. His face rested in the hallow of her neck, and his arms lay awkwardly in his lap. "Shh, shh. It's going to be okay."

Tyler started speaking quickly then, his words distorted and staggering. "He doesn't know—no one knows! They wouldn't un—understand. They'd all hate me. They'd think I was a fre—freak, because I'm fu—fucking different. All they do is joke about it, but it's really me. I did—I didn't ask for it! I can't stop it! Oh, god, Cammie. What if they find out? What will they do to me?"

Tears started to fall from Cammie's eye at Tyler's distress. She took his face in her hands and lifted it to look her in the eyes. "Listen to me, Tyler Hill. I won't let that happen until you're ready. You are a wonderful, _wonderful_ person. Do you understand me? _Do you_? There is _nothing _wrong with you! Never!"

Tyler slowly rested his head on her shoulder again, and his sobs eventually calmed. Finally, after a long period of silence, he said, "What will happen if Scott finds out?" Tyler squeezed his eyes shut. "He'll _hate_ me..."

"He's your brother, Tyler." Cam sighed. "He can't ever hate you. Just…just give it time. It won't always be like this," Cammie promised, dropping a kiss on his head.

Tyler nodded, and the two stayed in the silent embrace until the warning bell for class echoed across the campus.

As they got up and walked out, Tyler took Cammie's hand in his hand. "Thank you," he said sincerely. "It means _everything_, Cammie. Everything."

.~***~.

_Blackthorne Institute for Boys_

_Gym_

_Physical Activity_

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," Madame Dabney said as she swept into the gym, her dress dragging on the floor behind her.

Cammie heard some of the boys groan and moan behind her, and she barely stifled a giggle. They were seated in foldable chairs set up in the center of the large room. Across from them, a large gramophone sat on a table, a box of records next to it on a chair.

"Gallagher Girl," Zach whispered from the seat behind her. He leaned forward and spoke directly in her ear, his breath ghosting across her bare skin and making her shiver deliciously. "What was it Dr. Steve said she taught?" Cammie could swear that he meant to mock her, and his next words confirmed it. "_Culture and Assimilation_?" Cammie's head snapped around and she glared at him until he leaned back, his hands up in surrender, an annoying smirk stuck on his stupid and equally annoying face. When she turned away again, he laughed behind her back, and she had to dig her fingernails into her palms to stop herself from saying something extremely rude in Farsi.

"Today I will be teaching you all the art of the dance," Madame Dabney said as she sent a record spinning. "Please, hold your applause," she winked.

As the record started to play, Tchaicovsky's Waltz of the flowers filled the gym. Madame Dabney began to sway to the music, and soon she was dancing a full waltz with an invisible partner. "I want you all to memorize the steps," she called to them. "In exactly 3 and a half minutes I'm going to expect you to be able to dance this like you were born to do it, ladies and gentlemen!

"Three and a half minutes!" Zach said in disbelief behind her. Cammie smirked.

"Madame Dabney may be eccentric and over the top," Cammie said to the boys behind her, turning around, "but she's an eccentric and over the top _Gallagher Girl_." Then Cammie and the other girls giggled, stood and began waltzing around the room like their teacher, leaving fifteen Blackthorne boys open mouthed behind them.

"Come on, Blackthorne Boy," Cammie teased Zach as she spun around. "Or are you afraid you can't handle it?" She laughed and moved farther away.

Tyler, Grant, Jonas and other other boys watched in slight wonder and horror as Zach's face turned red, then purple, then green and then red again. Suddenly, the tall boy launched himself out of his seat and straight into Cammie Morgan, who gasped in shock when Zach's hands came around her waist out of nowhere, and he dipped her in precisely the right place in the music.

"What are you doing?" She gasped.

"Dancing," he growled. And then she was up and spinning, and he was leading her around the room in a perfect waltz, Madame Dabney applauding them from the side.

"That's it children!" she cried in praise and merriment. "Mr. Goode and Ms. Morgan have mastered it! Now quickly everyone, follow their lead."

And for the rest of the period, the gym was alive with spinning, dipping and twirling Gallagher girls and Blackthorne boys.

* * *

><p><span>Next Chapter Preview:<span>

_The Gallagher Girls and Blackthorne Boys enjoy a day in town in honor of Halloween. But who will break up the fun? _

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

Hi guys!

Hope everyone liked this chapter! As some of you may know, I've been writing a lot of oneshots lately too, if you're interested in reading them. Basically what happened was that I just wanted to get all my ideas for small fics out of the way, so then I could focus on this one, finish it, and then reassess whether or not I would continue writing GG fics or switch fandoms. We'll see.

Anyways, this story is really rolling, and I'm getting a lot of great feedback, so thanks you everyone :).

Love,

Katie

P.S. I couldn't find Madame Dabney's first name, so I made it up. If anyone knows what her real name is, just let me know and I'll be happy to change it :). And I realize she's probably way OOC, and that I exaggerated her character really badly, but I couldn't help it. It's just how I've always imagined her. Eccentric, and a cross between Professor Trelawney, Professor McGonagall and a 1950s Hollywood Starlet. Well, an eccentric starlet.


	10. Painting the Town

**The Brotherhood of Ieoseph Cavan**

**C**_h_A_**p**_t_E_**r**_ 9_

* * *

><p><span>The Story So Far:<span>

Cammie and the Gallagher Girls arrived at Blackthorne, and all except Cammie were immediately welcomed by the boys. Tyler Hill took pity on Cammie and easily befriended her, but he was the only boy willing to. Zach Goode, another junior boy, was intrigued and confused by Cammie, who seems to know nothing of her father's involvement at Blackthorne, but only watched her from afar. There was immediate chemistry between Zach and Cammie, to Cammie's embarrassment and to Zach's amusement.

During dinner, the girls found out they would be sharing a bunker with the boys, much to their dismay, leading to a fight between Tina and Cammie.

In the middle of the night, the girls were surprised with Night Drills, a vigorous night-training program they will be graded on. The Night Drill instructor/sergeant, Beau, immediately singles out Cammie, just like the other boys did. Except, instead of singling her out to make her a social pariah, Beau singled her out because he is sexually attracted to her…in the creepiest way possible. [Rapist, much? Cammie thinks so.]

The next day, Cammie, Bex and Liz get a taste of morning life at Blackthorne. They even have to shower _with the boys_, in the communal shower room! Not to mention how much more obnoxious Zach gets!

During breakfast Xavier Gray and his gang disrespect Cammie, but she handles it beautifully, much to the admiration of Julien Walsh, one of the guards sent by Gallagher. The girls get their schedules and split up to go to class. On the way, Cammie and Tyler run into Wesley Hamon, the other young guard from Gallagher. Immediately, Tyler takes a liking to him.

After morning classes, Cammie suffered from a panic attack at lunch induced by the mention of her father by Mario. She runs out, her friends following, leaving more questions in the boys' minds than answers.

The she is shocked again when she arrives at Cove. Ops and sees her long-lost godfather/uncle, Joe Solomon. She is shocked and angry at first, and runs away. She ends up caught in the rain with Beau Travers, who comes shockingly close to forcing himself on her. Before he has the chance to cross the line, however, Solomon arrives, having run out of class after Cammie. He warns Beau off of the Gallagher girls and he and Cammie come face-to-face in the rain. A shouting match has them resolving the tension between them, and they spend the rest of the day playing hooky and catching up in the junior bunker.

The next morning at breakfast, Cammie and the other Gallagher Girls are shocked to find out that Rachel, Abbey and Madame Dabney have come to Blackthorne for a short stay as well. Rachel and Abbey are doing business with Dr. Steve at the request of the school board, and Madame Dabney tagged along to offer dance classes at Blackthorne for a couple weeks.

Also, Tyler breaks down and admits to Cammie that he is gay.

Oh, and Grant is an idiot.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nine: Painting the Town<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Wesley laughs, the sound melodic to his ears. Wesley's hands find their way to his legs—up his thighs—and finally he leans towards him and then—<em>

He woke up.

* * *

><p><em>Blackthorne Institute for Boys<em>

_Front Gate_

_Just after breakfast_

_HALLOWEEN DAY_

.~***~.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, load up!" Beau's voice boomed over the excited chattering of the Blackthorne boys and Gallagher girls gathered at the front gate of the Institute. When they didn't listen, he said, "_Any_ day now, or extra laps!" Quickly, the crowd surged towards the buses (_Blackthorne Institue for Delinquent Boys_ printed in bold print on the side) that would take them into the small town about a mile and a half away from Blackthorne.

Cammie quickly boarded the nearest one, sitting with Tyler behind Bex and Liz, who sat across the isle from Zach and Grant.

"Excited?" she asked Tyler, who was being unusually quiet.

"Mm," he said, staring out the window. Cammie followed his longing gaze. Her eyes grew wide when she saw exactly whom he was staring at. "Wesley," she hissed at him in surprise.

He spun to face her, his cheeks heating up. "Shush!" he panicked, glancing around to make sure no one had heard. Cammie, scolded, turned to stare at the back of Bex's chair. She couldn't help but grin—this was just _too_ perfect.

"Well…do you _like _him?"

"Cammie," Tyler groaned, hitting the back of his head against the soft chair with a _thump_. "Please just pretend you didn't see that!"

"But—"

"Please Cam?"

Cammie sighed unhappily. "Fine."

After a moment of silence Cammie inquired as to how often the boys were allowed to leave the school. "Once every three months we get a day in town" Tyler said. "Otherwise we aren't allowed to leave the grounds."

"That's confinement!"

"Cam, our cover is a school for criminal boys. We'd have a lot of trouble keeping it if we were walking around town all the time. Besides, we don't exactly have the bet relationship with the townies."

"Neither does Gallagher."

"Really?" Tyler asked, surprised.

Cammie nodded. "The people of Roseville don't take well to snobby rich girls."

"Ah, I see."

"Yeah, well."

"A lot of us just stay on campus instead of going to town. Most of the younger boys leave, but those of us who aren't new know not to go there if we can help it."

"Why?"

"We don't like the way they look at us. They only reason so many of us are going today is because you guys are here."

"…Thanks."

.~***~.

The town was coated in the yellow and orange and red of autumn, and homes were decorated with cobwebs and bats hanging on bare branches. Stores had signs hanging in the windows advertising bags of candy corn for cut prices and last minute Halloween costumes for little boys and girls. All around them, the people of the town were out and about, doing their shopping and preparing for the nights coming festivities.

Cammie was sitting in the fading park with Bex, Liz, Tyler, Grant, Jonas and Zach. The boys had spent the afternoon tugging the girls around town. They seemed determined to show them as much as they could of the most normal part of their lives, and all around town they kept running into other Blackthorne Boys and Gallagher girls were doing the same.

Finally, after Bex complained for a good five minutes that her stomach was about to implode from hunger, Jonas had suggested getting sandwiches from Subway and going to sit in the park. Cammie got ham and cheese. So did Zach.

Despite the biting cold wind, it felt good to stop for a few minutes and eat in silence. Shivering, she switched between fingering the buttons of her pea coat at her neck, rubbing her hands together and taking bites of her sandwiches.

As they were finishing the last bites of heir lunch, Liz gasped in delight. "A merry-go-round!" She jumped up and ran in the direction of a rusting merry-go-round at the other end of the park. Zach groaned as the others stood to follow after her. "I was hoping she wouldn't see that."

When they got there, Liz was talking to the old man huddled in the control booth. She said, "Guys, he said it's only a dollar per person for a ride! Oh, can we please?"

"Liz…" Cammie said with a sign.

"There is no way I'm getting on that thing," Bex said. "A: I'm not six years old. B: I am 96.7 percent sure this thing is about as safe as the Titanic." She rubbed her toed on the faded, rusting metal. It looked as if it hadn't been used in about twenty-five years.

"_Please_?" Liz pleaded, sending them a pleading look.

Her friends just stared at her for a long moment, before Grant broke first. "Holy hell, stop the torture! The puppy eyes—I. Can't. Take. Them!" Frantically he dug around in his pocket and pulled out a dollar for Liz and a dollar for him.

Liz grinned and threw herself at him in a hug. Grant barely managed to hold onto the tiny girl to stop her from pushing them both to the ground (her strength was, quite frankly, alarming). Then he led by her hand to the control booth like a brother leading his little sister, and they both bought a ticket.

"I can't believe it," Bex said. Her voice and expression were in horrified awe. "I can't bloody believe it."

"That's you man up there," Zach said as they watched the machine start. Liz was sitting on a graying unicorn, while Grant had chosen the smallest pony he could find (purple with a yellow saddle). The five of them just stared as Grant and Liz giggled and whooped with glee at the whopping 2 miles per hour they were going.

"This is just ridiculous," Tyler said after Grant and Liz had ridden twice more. The rest of them had situated themselves against the rickety fence and were watching in boredom. When the two children stumbled off he said to them, "No more, I beg of you! I might die of boredom."

"Just once more?" Grant asked.

"No." Zach said.

"But—"

"No."

"Oh."

"Let's go," Cammie said, turning back towards town. "The bus leaves in fifteen minutes anyways. We may as well head back."

The group sets back across the path, when suddenly a shout says, "Heads up!" and a Frisbee hits Zach in the back of the head.

"Ow! What the hell?!" Zach spun around and grabbed the Frisbee of the ground angrily. He looks around for whoever hit him to find a group of four boys run up. The boy in the front looks apologetic and holds up his hands.

"Sorry man. Total accident, I swear."

Zach sighed angrily and ran a hand through his hair. "Whatever, dude. Here's your Frisbee."

"Hey," one of the guys in the back said, squinting at Zach, and then at the other boys. "Have I seen you guys around her before?"

"We don't come here often," Grant said shortly, all childishness gone. He crossed his arms over his large chest so that his biceps bulged.

A look of comprehension dawned on the face of the boy who had spoken. His face turned unfriendly. "You're from Blackthorne." His friends straightened up then and gave the Blackthorne Boys and Gallagher Girls looks of hostility.

"We are _you _doing here?"

"Listen," Zach said. "We were just leaving. Just take the damn Frisbee and we'll go."

"What's the rush?" The boys sneered, spread their legs and started to spread out in a circle around Cammie's group. She recognized it as an intimidation technique. "Planning to rob some stores before bedtime?"

"Dude, just lay off," Tyler said. He looked tired as he said it, like the last thing he wanted to do was to deal with this shit.

"Escape from any prisons lately?"

"He _said_ lay off," Bex said angrily.

The boys scoffed at her. "Looky here, boys. These criminals hired some priss to do their dirty work for them!"

"Hey, shut up, asshole!" Jonas said.

"Okay, that's enough! We're leaving," Zach said. He shoved the Frisbee at them, then grabbed Cammie's hand and started walking away.

"Hey, assface! Get back here!" one of the boys shouted. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"Zach, are we just going to leave them?" Grant said angrily as he worked to keep up with Zach's fast pace.

"That's exactly what we're going to do, Grant."

"But—"

"Hey! Dickhead! Don't run away from this!" Zach's jaw clenched and his grip on Cammie's hand tightened, but still he kept walking, ignoring the group of townies following them back through the buses in the direction of the buses.

"Fine! Run away with your little slut!" All of a sudden Zach stopped short, frozen. Everyone stopped with him, and Cammie was suddenly very afraid for the boy who had spoken.

"_What _did you say?" It was a horse whisper, and Zach's quiet, fuming rage seemed to permeate the air. He slowly turned to the townies, his expression blank.

The one who had thrown the Frisbee gulped, but since the beginning of the confrontation his group had grown alarmingly from four to ten boys, outnumbering the Blackthorne boys and Gallagher Girls. So with that in mind, he said, his voice shaking, "'Run away with your little _slut_.'"

Then Zach lunged.

.~***~.

The ride back to Blackthorne was silent. The entire bus sat wondering what exactly had happened to the four boys and three girls who had returned to the bus battered and bloody. Zach had been dragged back with the support of Grant (who had a black eye forming) and Jonas, whose lip was bloody. Cammie could barely move from the pain of the bruises , Tyler was limping and Bex held an icepack to the bump on her head. Only Lizzie was fully intact, after Tyler had shoved her into one of the bushes and out of harms way when the fighting had broken out.

At the front of the bus, Beau was smirking.

.~***~.

"Holy _shit_—what hell happened to you guys?!" Julien and Wesley were standing at the gate to receive them when they stumbled off the bus, barely able to stand. Wesley stared open mouthed while Julien lunged forward to catch Cammie, whose legs didn't seem to be functioning properly from exhaustion and extensive bruising.

"Come on," Wesley finally says. "Let's get you guys cleaned up."

.~***~.

In the junior bunker, the nine boys and girls were sitting on their beds as Wesley and Julien treated their cuts and bruises with the first aid kit they kept in the bathroom. Grant and Bex had both fallen asleep with ice packs on their faces, and Liz and Jonas—not quiet as bruised as the others—slipped out to go to the computer lab to work on hacking into NASA's software (a homework assignment for their Inside NASA: A Spy's Eye course).

Now, Tyler sat on his bed while Wesley probed his foot and ankle for a possible break, blushing down to his roots. "Ow!" he exclaimed, when the older boy found a tender spot.

"Here we go," Wesley said, all his concentration on Tyler's foot. Tyler was grateful, because that meant that he didn't notice the effect he was having on him. Meaning a certain problem in his pants (which, Tyler thought, wasn't exactly his fault. Wesley was definitely probing in a kind of suggestive way).

"It doesn't look like a break. Just a bad sprain. I'll bandage it up and have a word with Dr. Steve, so he knows that you won't be participating in Night Drills or Physical Education for a few days." Then Wesley looked up at him and Tyler's breath left him. He had to clear his throat several times before he was able to speak properly.

"Right. Thanks."

"Sure, no problem." Then Wesley smiled and his eyes sparkled and all the air left Tyler's body.

Across the isle, Zach sat glaring at the open bathroom door, oblivious to what was happening in front of him. Inside the small toilet room Julien was tending to Cammie's bruises and cuts, carefully running a damp washcloth over the skin of her thighs as she sat heavily on the toilet seat.

When Julien's hand gripped her leg, Zach's fist clenched.

When Julien touched her face gently to check for bruises, Zach's teeth ground together.

When Julien said something that made her laugh, Zach growled.

Zach thought he pretty much hated Julien Welsh.

Not even Wesley helping Tyler up and out of the bunker, with the demand for Zach to go get some dinner too, broke him from his jealous trance. Zach just sat on his bed, staring, angry.

Finally, after what seemed like a thousand years worth of fiery torture, Julien helped Cammie back to her bed and departed with a smile for her and a glare towards Zach, who happily returned the sentiment.

When he was gone, Cammie said, "Zach, are you okay?"

Zach almost couldn't answer from anger. Finally, he forced himself to say "fine."

"You're angry at me," Cammie said. She frowned. "Listen, I'm sorry okay. You didn't have to punch him for me."

Zach looked incredulous. "You think _that's_ why I'm mad? Gallagher Girl, of course I punched his lights out. Jesus, he called you—_that_! I couldn't have stopped myself even if I wanted to. Which I didn't."

Cammie looked confused. "Then why are you angry?"

Zach groaned and threw himself back on his bed. He stared at the ceiling. "Jesus, I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair.

Cammie stared at him for a while until he finally spoke again. "Do you have a thing fo Welsh?"

To say she was surprised was an understatement. "_What_?! Wait—Julien?"

"Yeah," Zach scowled. "_Julien_."

"Ew."

"Er—what?" Zach propped himself up on his elbows.

"I said: _ew_."

"Yeah, I heard that. I'm just a little confused right now."

Cammie laughed and Zach kind of felt a little stupid at this point. "_Zach_, of course I don't have a thing for Julien. Holy crap, that's gross! He's like my _brother!_"

"But…he was all over you in the bathroom!"

"That? That was nothing! He was just worried because I was hurt. Like I said: _brother_."

"I…feel really dumb." Cammie laughed at his expression. "Thank goodness," Zach threw a hand over his heart, suddenly channeling his dramatic side. "I was scared I had come to your rescue only to be thrown aside another Prince Charming! Please Lord, stop my beating heart!"

Cammie snorted and threw her pillow at him, which he caught, then laughed. When they had both calmed down Cammie stared at Zach, who returned her stare with an unblinking one of his own.

"Thanks Zach," she whispered finally, which he heard like a shout in his ear. "Thank you so much for today."

"Anytime, Gallagher Girl. Anytime."

.~***~.

"Ow! Shit!" Tyler exclaimed as his ankle gave way halfway between the bunker and the cafeteria.

"Are you okay?" Wesley asked in alarm.

"Fine," Tyler said, but his watering eyes gave away his pain.

"Here," Wesley said, gesturing to the door of the shower room. "Rest on the bench." He led Tyler inside and sat down with the injured boy.

"Thank," Tyler said for about the third time in the last two minutes.

Wesley rolled his eyes and bumped Tyler's shoulder playfully, which made the younger boy blush. "Like I said, it's no problem."

"Right…" Tyler said. He bashfully stared at his legs.

"Wait—" Wesley said, his hand suddenly coming to Tyler's face. "You've got a…cut. I didn't see it before." Tyler froze as Wesley's fingers gently probed the skin under his eye. They were so close, Tyler could smell Wesley's musky cologne. Or maybe it was his natural scent. Either way, Tyler thought it smelled sexy as hell.

"Um…" Tyler said. His voice cracked, and Wesley's attention went from the cut to Tyler's instantly. The older man seemed to suddenly become very aware of their proximity, but he didn't move away. Instead, he frowned for a moment, before his hand came up and pushed a strand of hair out of Tyler's eyes. Tyler admired how blue Wesley's eyes were. Like water.

Their breath twined together and the air seemed to heat up from the energy between them. Tyler couldn't think. He could barely even breathe. All he knew was that Wesley was close—so close—and he wasn't moving away and he was so good-looking and all he wanted to do was lean into him and let their lips meet and then slip his shirt off his—

Tyler stopped breathing because right at his thoughts entered dangerous water. Wesley pressed his lips to his in a sweet kiss.

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><p><span>Next Chapter Preview:<span>

_The girls have some fun eavesdropping on the boys, and there's a final showdown between Tina and Cammie. _

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

Hi guys!

Hope everyone is doing good. It's been about a month and a half since I last updated, so I know it's been a little while. I actually spent the entire month of July doing a pre-college summer program at Oxford University. I got to take a creative writing course there and a literature course, and they were _amazing_! Hopefully my writing is starting to improve, but even if I'm not there yet the experience was one of a kind and truly amazing. I recommend it to everyone, and if you're interested in details about which program I did I'd be happy to provide them if you PM me.

Anyways, yeah. I was busy for all of July, which is why this came so late. Unfortuantely, school starts for me again in about two weeks. Hopefully I can finish this before then, but if I can't it's going to continue on into another school year (which is not ideal).

Finally, as always, tell me what you thought in a review, and I hoped you liked it! We're almost at the climax now!

Love,

Katie


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